A Large Leap
by MircThomas19
Summary: Luffy was supposed to fall into a coma when his brother died in his arms. But what if that never happened? What if instead, Luffy had suddenly realized that this was something else, something bigger than adventures with friends? Now Luffy will see that he was given another chance at his dream. And he is going to take this large leap and take the world by storm! No Pairings Yet!
1. The Comeback of the Century

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

A Large Leap

The Comeback of the Century

'Is this another dream?' Monkey D. Luffy, son of Monkey D. Dragon of the Revolutionaries and the grandson of Monkey D. 'The Fist' Garp of the Marines, spoke to himself as the feeling of weightlessness had flooded his system. It was like Luffy was floating, or drifting in the ocean. And Luffy never learned how to swim in his life; for good reason.

You see, he ate one of the mythical **Akuma no Mi** (Devil Fruits). Each one grants a superhuman or supernatural ability with a simple cost: the ability to swim. It might not sound that serious but any still motion body of water can disable an eater and cause them to sink like a hammer. And most eaters are usually sailors, pirates or marines.

Back to be specific, Luffy ate the **Gomu-Gomu no Mi** (Rubber-Rubber Fruit). It generally transforms pretty much anything about Luffy's body to take the qualities of rubber permanently. Meaning that Luffy can stretch any of his limbs or skin as the basics but Luffy was like a monkey for sure. He managed to learn, from instinct and the heat of the moment, how to use his **Akuma no Mi** to new extents.

For example, he can use his rubbery organs to accelerate his blood flow so that more strength and speed can be used with the side effect of risking the length of his lifespan. Despite that setback, Luffy can move at supersonic speeds and launch attacks strong enough to create shockwaves. But there was more, Luffy can enlarge his limbs and other body parts.

And it is as simple as blowing his rubbery body with air, much like how a balloon is enlarged as more air is inserted. And while that does sound a little useless to just use air but this allows Luffy to use his own freakish strength to topple larger-than-average foes and even destroy entire towns if needed.

That is right, Luffy has, other than his **Akuma no Mi** ability, superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, hardness and coordination. This allows him to dominate fights, without having to rely on his **Akuma no Mi** too much; just when his arms can't normally reach. The only problem is that Luffy's mindset is that of a jungle animal; he thinks on his feet, with his fists or his stomach which can annoy his friends. He even gets medicine all wrong with his useless suggestions.

But Luffy was still a teenager that had to grow up in a jungle on his home island, so there is still the upsides to his personality. Luffy never thinks of himself, never selfish, never greedy for anything other than food, never feels lust, pride, sloth, envy, is wrathful only for his friends, and generally is an excellent leader. As he has done what was determined to be impossible plenty of times and he has a loyal crew that may be frustrated from time to time that still follows his word.

Luffy sure is a lucky boy for sure but this day and experience will show him what he really has. 'I must still be dreaming because there is nothing here. Not even meat, which I can go for anything by now!' Luffy ignored the saliva down his mouth at the thought of his favorite raw food.

But he was right, the surroundings were indeed 'nothing'. All bland, mundane, uninteresting and generally means nothing. There wasn't even anything above or below the boy, so what was Luffy floating in!? "I don't care! Thinking gives me a headache! I just want to find Ace and get away!"

Portgas D. Ace was Luffy's older brother. And the difference in name is because Ace and Luffy were brothers in all but blood. They have so much in common but people in general knew Ace by being stronger than Luffy, who never beaten him, and also being more polite and enjoyable to be around. Thankfully, Luffy was thick-skinned enough to take the jabbing to where it hurts the most.

And one of things that make Luffy and Ace brothers, besides their love of food and their cheerily way of living life, was that they both were Akuma no Mi eaters. Ace ate the **Mera-Mera no Mi (Fire-Fire Fruit)** that made him even more famous and powerful; he already could overwhelm Luffy in physical combat. And with his signature more, **Hiken (Fire Fist)** , Ace was known as 'Fire Fist' for sinking ship fleets with a single blow from this powerful technique.

But there was just this one thing that made Ace's life harder than Luffy's or perhaps as dangerous was Ace's father, Gol D. Roger. And Roger was better known as the 'Pirate King' as there was no pirate that had more power, wealth or fame than Roger obtained along with 'everything else life had to offer'. And after Roger's execution, planned to lower pirate trends, failed to deliver the message the way the government wanted, they wanted to prevent the coming of the second Pirate King. And they knew that the Gol Family line was the greatest factor in Roger's rise to power, they needed to end the family line for this own sakes.

And that was how Ace was an outcast who had to listen to complete strangers making fun of him and his father. And in a twist of irony, considering that Ace hated Roger, the boy will never let anyone live after mocking the late Pirate King. That attitude could get him killed and,

"ACE! NOO!" That was what happened. Someone did insult Roger but also someone else to, where and when Ace can hear it. One of the admirals of the marines had insulted the man that Ace called his 'real father', Edward 'Whitebeard' Newgate. Another powerful pirate and was the only one that matched Roger's own power.

Whitebeard was also one of the **Yonko (Four Emperors)** that were a group of powerful and influential pirates that may have started after the death of Roger. And each of the **Yonko** was powerful enough to take over any ocean entirely so the government and marines offer the chance to destroy pirates so that the **Yonko** are tamed and satisfied. But there was more to Whitebeard than all of this,

Newgate had a lot more titles than that, he was also the 'World's Strongest Man' and the 'Man closet to One Piece'. These titles were not made up for intimidation as Whitebeard is a lot stronger than the average human, superhuman doesn't come close to Whitebeard's seemingly unmatched strength and power. Whitebeard even had the power to destroy the world with his **Akuma no Mi** that he eat, a lot like Luffy and Ace, called the **Gura-Gura no Mi (Tremor-Tremor Fruit)**.

With the **Gura-Gura no Mi** , Whitebeard can use shockwaves to severely damage his foes and even cause tsunamis while sending them to cause seaquakes. He even once used this power to topple the earth itself to gain an advantage on the battlefield. But enough about Whitebeard,

Ace had heard this admiral, in all his arrogance and cruelty, insult Whitebeard and caused the wrathful young man to try and retaliate. But even with his **Mera-Mera no Mi** powers, Ace was outmatched in skill and power. And Luffy saw a pure good example, with Ace taking a fist of magma aimed at a version of himself!

"NOO! ACCE!" Luffy tried to 'swim' his way to his brother and help him but Luffy couldn't even touch Ace without phasing through a lot like a ghost does. This was a nightmare for sure, seeing Ace with a huge hole in his chest, one no one can survive even five minutes with. And it got worse when this Luffy saw the version of himself that was part of this vison; that 'Luffy' looked like he was going to snap, and he did.

Luffy couldn't understand why he felt like his head was still clear while that Luffy looked worse to wear and wasn't even looking alive! And then the vison blurred too fast for even someone like Luffy to keep up but the young man saw himself surviving the war for sure but almost giving up on his dream; something that Luffy saw as a real nightmare and a real sin.

'Is…is this what is going to happen to me?' Luffy said as he saw himself going to an island under the sea, to an island made of both fire and ice, to an island of toys and passion, to a kingdom on top a giant elephant and all the other islands indescribable for the poor boy's mind. All Luffy needed to know was that this version of him had gotten stronger for sure but the foes and obstacles of the New World, the real World's Greatest Ocean.

"NO!" Luffy shouted as it all disappeared, leaving Luffy to float in nothingness again. "I will not be that weak! Not today and not ever! I am going to be strong! For Ace and for my crew!" Luffy didn't care if someone heard him or not. "I will protect everyone for real this time! I will! I WILL!"

Then Luffy felt like he was being pushed by something unseen, out of the nothingness and to where this resolve will be tested. Luffy has another chance to strive for a better future and prove to his doomed brother that he is not weak and will not be that way for the rest of his life. He will take this large leap that awaits him!

XXXXXX

When Luffy suddenly heard screaming and gun firing, the smell of smoke and gunpowder filled his nose and the touch of stone spread throughout his skin, he knew that he was back in reality. And then Luffy saw it, something he wished not to see; his doomed brother with a magma fist through his chest!

'Why?' Luffy whispered. 'I thought that I could save him. Why?' In a sadist act of cruelty, the Admiral only withdraw his deadly fist out of Ace's chest so Luffy could have him die in his arms and become a sitting duck.

"Luffy…" Ace muttered with what little breath and strength left in his dying body. "Looks like this is it."

Luffy shivered and felt tears down his cheeks. "You were doomed. Is that why you never wanted me here. You didn't want me to be here and see this." Luffy said that slightly surprised Ace, the little brother that he knew was never this perceptive and so mature about it.

"Yeah. I didn't want to scare and worry my little brother. That's your job." Ace cracked a joke but Luffy didn't feel like laughing in situations like this one.

"I love you Ace." Luffy suddenly said which got his big brother by surprise. "You are my big brother, you are irreplaceable and I will never try to find a new brother! That is why I am here! Because I love you! Always!"

Meanwhile, Ace felt like seeing his entire life flash by while being able to see every single scene where Ace was bullied, tormented and harassed simply for his bloodline. Each one of these made him feel unloved by the world and everything that lived in it. But Luffy had proven him wrong, Ace was loved despite it all.

Ace was brought to tears from this, "Me too. I love you too Luffy. You are my precious little brother, I will never ask for anyone else." Ace felt like his doomed time is just on the horizon. "Tell Whitebeard that I loved him as a father and thank you all for loving me." Ace spoke no more and Luffy cemented those words into his mind as the light in his big brother's eyes had faded forever; Ace had died, with a smile and in Luffy's arms, where he belongs.

Luffy then felt that same moment from the vision, when that version of himself snapped and went into a coma. Not this time, Luffy gritted his teeth and used all the positive memories he could muster as some kind of mental barrier; and it looks like it's working but,

"You are next **Mugiwara (Straw Hat)**!" Admiral Akainu, with his infernal **Magu-Magu no Mi (Magma-Magma Fruit)** that was as cruel as he is, charged to kill off Ace's little brother. But Akainu's attack attempt was thwarted by the blur of a massive creature that somehow blocked the fist made of magma!

"Jinbe!" Luffy called out. Jinbe was not a human for sure, but a Fishman; a member of a species that were humanoids with features based off the various fish species that live in all the world's oceans. In Jinbe's case, he was based of the whale shark which takes in account his massive builds and shark like characteristics.

But Jinbe, in all his concertation to take a deadly fist with his bare hands, didn't notice that Luffy was still conscious. Conscious to take a large piece of rubble with his stretched arm, and cast the cruel admiral away! Jinbe was surprised, he had been ready for Ace's little brother to be fully vulnerable, to save him but it was Luffy was did the saving.

"Jinbe! We need to get Ace on one of Whitebeard's ships! Now!" Luffy shouted to the fishman who was still in shock but nodded, taking the fallen body into his arms. But then, "Go!" Luffy shouted yet again but not at Jinbe, he was pointing at the piece of rubble that he knocked Akainu away with.

As soon as the admiral melted the rubble with his magma, he was soon hit by a pair of swords and talons! Vista and Marco, of the Whitebeard Pirates, respectably, had tried to get a slice at Akainu for Ace's murder. "You Haki users are so annoying." The admiral muttered; Haki was something that allowed user to hit eaters of the **Akuma no Mi** that granted intangibility, the Logia class. But it seems that those 'Haki users' still haven't hit the admiral's solid body and only hit the magma instead.

 **"Gomu-Gomu no Jetto Pisutoru! (Gum-Gum Jet Pistol)!"** Akainu heard this before in the war and prepared to match a supersonic attack, only for it to hit the ground that he was standing on instead.

"You need to work on that aim **Mugiwara** , maybe that is what killed your brother!" The cruel admiral tried to make a mocking out of this but was infuriated to see a smirk on Luffy's face instead.

"It is hard to miss when I am not aiming at you Akainu." Luffy said, dragging it along to keep his foe busy and before a geyser erupted beneath the admiral! "I got it from Jinbe fighting Moria. He is not the only one that can use the sea against a Devil Fruit eater!"

Everyone gasped as the smell was without a doubt to be sea water and the sea is deadly to Akuma no Mi eaters. "And I won't try to use your powers Admiral." Luffy said only for everyone hear screaming, "I told you. Sea water is not like drinking water or bathing water. It is not purely water, there are dirt from the sea floor and the essence of sea creatures as small as our cells and they hate to be boiled. You'll hate to boil sea water that you are drenched in."

When the geyser died down and ran out of sea water, everyone saw a sorry sight. Akainu was on the ground, still covered in ocean water, but clutching his face and it looks like his eyes were irritated. "Damm you **Mugiwara**! Scum of Dragon!"

"I know that my dad is an ass but I am not him." Luffy said with a childishly mocking voice. "But now it is time." The marines were shocked to see nearly every remaining Whitebeard Pirate arrive with fire arms; Luffy looked like their new commander. "Fire!"

Guns, rifles, bazookas and all the nine yards were fired off at once; and they were all aimed a single target. The admiral was obviously blinded because he was helpless to both stop and take the missiles, bullets and everything that can be shot at him. And when he could try, the sea water will only harm the admiral, with his own powers being used against him.

"You two!" Luffy shouted and Admiral then felt something worse than firearms, he felt like something had sliced at both arms and the right side of his torso. And this time, blood has been drawn. "Now it is my turn." Akainu could hear the boy he tried to scar with Ace's death right in front of him.

"If you hit me then you will kill me! You will show the world that you are no different than the evil scum that he risk our lives to fight!" Akainu now has resorted to trying to talk Luffy out whatever the boy has planned.

"No problem. You done that already." Luffy said, "But for the record, you wanted me to remember you and I will return the favor. Call it an attack in Ace's name and reserved for you! This, you will never forget!" Akainu then felt like his face was being burned badly, with the sea water irritating the burn. **"Gomu-Gomu no Reddo Hōku (Gum-Gum Red Hawk)!"**

Everyone, marines and pirates alike were shocked to see Luffy's fist that met Akainu's cheek explode! And other than burning Akainu's face badly, as well as most of the admiral, it sent him flying to the far side of Marineford and into a wall that somehow halted him. And then yet another geyser from the sea erupted around the fallen admiral.

"Oops. I forgot that last one!" Luffy then laughed at that, which was something that no one was able to understand at all. "But at least he won't be hurting anyone in this war. He is all yours Whitebeard."

The larger-than-life **Yonko** pirate appeared right behind Luffy with anger written all over him, but not at Ace's younger brother. "Fine brat. Just don't interfere next time."

"Got it Uncle Whitebeard. I got it ages ago. But quit wasting time!" Luffy suddenly lost his cool and Whitebeard was shocked to see the admiral get up. The **Yonko** might be the 'Strongest Man in the World' but even he thought that Akainu was done from the rain of bullets from his crew and a pair of attacks from two of his division commanders.

"Arrgh! I will finish this!" Whitebeard used his right hand to strike the very air, as if it was made of glass. This of course was the effect of the **Gura-Gura no Mi** , the cracking of the glass is what sends shockwaves. And this one pretty much cracked the side of Marineford that the pirates were all facing. But Akainu was not among the rubble. "Where did he go!?"

Whitebeard tried to find the admiral but by the time he felt intense heat around a certain point, it was too late for the old veteran that was feeling old age. Akainu arrived from the ground and was screaming like a madman with his eyes still irritating beyond belief, trying to kill the **Yonko**. Only to see that Luffy was taking the hit! "Trying to die after all!?" Akainu laughed, thinking that fate had gotten him to kill his prey but his irritated eyes showed him a victorious smirk on Luffy's face.

"I am not the type to get scars but I am just returning the favor. It is the least I can do for my Uncle Whitebeard." Luffy said and when Akainu saw that all he was doing was giving him an x-shaped scar but not melting through the skin like the admiral had hoped, it was too late for him. Whitebeard responded with speeds beyond any man of his age to crack the air, this time hitting Akainu for real. In fact, the admiral couldn't take the sheer intensity of the strike with his wounds and exhaustion from Luffy's humiliation of him.

"Thanks for that brat! And what is up with that fearful shiver!?" Whitebeard spoke in a booming voice until he notice that Luffy was restless, even though all he got was a harmless scar on his chest.

"It's not that. It is just a repulsive presence is practically rotting my nerves away. And there is one hiding over there!" Luffy pointed to the large building that towered over the battlefield, where a shadow was spotted. "And the rest are over there!" Luffy then pointed to the platform that was being suspended by the same wall that Luffy had sent Akainu skidding into. "It's Blackbeard!"

Whitebeard gritted his teeth when he recognized the presence of a traitor that also killed one of his own in cold blood, over a prize that was what the real owner was slain over. But then the old man saw Luffy go in the opposite direction. "Where are you going brat!?"

Luffy then turned to Whitebeard with more seriousness than though possible for a boy like him. "This is your fight. Your justice. I have no right, even as Ace's little brother, to be involved. And while you are doomed to die here, just do me a favor a leave something on the scum so Blackbeard doesn't get out without scars. That is the most you can go and more than I can ever do currently."

Luffy then felt his own wounds and exhaustion from the rest of the war come to him. Whitebeard then saw that Luffy was speaking truthfully and then nodded. The last Luffy will ever remember of Whitebeard will be this, "Take him to the submarine, wherever it is going. And, thank you boy for everything. This old man will not let you down."

XXXXXX

"And you are sure that my crew will understand the message. I don't want the higher ups with all their own deduction abilities to figure it out too." Luffy said with his body covered in bandages and also Amazons tugging at his skin. It has been a solid week since Luffy had collapsed during the war, taken to indeed a submarine, delivered to the safest place possible and then was part of a glandular plan to get the attention of the world; and more importantly, the scattered members of the Straw Hat Pirates.

"I am sure that the plan you told us will keep the marines busy in trying to cover up the story, despite it already been published." Silvers 'Dark King' Raleigh, along with Jinbe trying his best, ignored the other amazons that are trying to see if all men stretch like Luffy. "And I am sure that your crew will understand your message since they are aware of your style."

"Me too." Luffy responded before taking a large sigh. "I just can't believe that I may have humiliated Akainu but I couldn't help Uncle Whitebeard against Blackbeard. And I heard that he did die…"

"You said that he was doomed to fall in battle and that he accepted it. So you will need to get over it." Raleigh said with a smile on his face. "You have done more for the old man than I ever did. Not even Captain Roger did that much."

Yes, Raleigh was part of the Roger pirates that were as famous as the Pirate King himself. In fact, Raleigh was the first mate! That meant Raleigh was the second strongest pirate, under Gold Roger himself! And twenty years later, even the marine admirals will think twice and have doubt before challenging Raleigh; there was no way any of them can beat him.

"Ace was his son and I was his younger brother. There was no way I was going to cause my uncle to just die, after how he gave Ace all Big Brother ever wanted." Luffy said. And that caused even the amazons to be silent while still playing. There was just this one thing left for Luffy to do, long before trying the Grand Line again.

Later,

"And why can't I visit my beloved while he is training!? All because I am a woman!?" Boa Hancock, one of the **Shichibukai** (Seven Warlords), is a woman of unmatched beauty and her strength is on equal levels. And she is annoying Raleigh with her schoolgirl-type crush on Luffy.

"I am sorry but we will be training hard and we can't spoil Luffy one bit! It will not get him stronger at all." Raleigh tried to reason with his decision but Hancock was one stubborn woman, with an iron-clad mind; one that melted when Luffy placed his hand on Hancock's that was pinching Raleigh's nose.

"Master Raleigh is right Hancock. It is for the best that you keep a profile as low as possible. You need to keep up your image to protect your people and I don't want my crew to gang up on me for having you visit every day." Luffy smiled which nearly caused Hancock to faint, given the close contact already. "Think you can do that for the next two years, for me?"

"Y-yes! I will! I will!" Hancock was definitely not acting like the ice queen that hates men one bit when she is ever around Luffy. "Be careful Luffy and good luck!" And so, Hancock and her Amazons left the island, named Rusukaina. Being located in the dangerous Calm Belt, which surrounds the Grand Line, this island is the prefect training ground for Luffy.

Meanwhile, Luffy and Raleigh were the only people left on the island. They were having their dinner with an elephant that Raleigh defeated while Luffy, even with his Second Gear, couldn't even bring down. "So you will be teaching me the basics of **Kenbunshoku Haki (Observant Haki)** , **Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki)** and **Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki)**." Luffy said over a large meat-on-a-stick, still his favorite food. "Is that all?"

"Well do you want to learn more?" Raleigh said over a jug of sake, he already had his share of meat. Luffy then nodded. "Like what?"

"I once used staffs from broken pipes while living with Ace but after an accident with my powers, that was the last time I ever used a polearm. But I want to fight when my Devil Fruit powers or fists don't work. Like with the admirals or any of the other pirates." Luffy gave an example and Raleigh nodded; that was the cold hard truth that **Akuma no Mi** powers and hand-to-hand combat can only get you so far in the Grand Line. "I am also interested in the **Rokushiki (Six Powers)** from CP9 in Enies Lobby."

"I usually just use swords instead of polearms and that style is exclusive to the CP9 and the Marines. I may have the knowledge on how they work, I haven't found the time to figure how to teach it." Raleigh said honestly. But Luffy wasn't disappointed,

"That's okay. I will try my best to understand your lessons. After all, I have only two years so I am going to pile it all in." Luffy said with determination. "This time, I am going to learn how to protect my crew for real. I will be able to take anything the New World has to give me."

"Prefect." Raleigh said with a smile. "Then let's get started."

End of Chapter 1.

 ***Finally, a new story since number 50 reached last month! Hope it is good and since I am basing this off of RyuUchihaSenju's 'The Next King of Pirates', I thought that I will give the credit for the idea to him. I don't want to step on any toes.***


	2. Monkey D Luffy is Back!

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

"One Piece" – Speaking

'One Piece' – Thoughts

 _One Piece_ – Flashbacks

 **One Piece** – Techniques

A Large Leap

Monkey D. Luffy is Back!

 _Previously on A Large Leap,_

" _And you are sure that my crew will understand the message. I don't want the higher ups with all their own deduction abilities to figure it out too." Luffy said with his body covered in bandages and also Amazons tugging at his skin. It has been a solid week since Luffy had collapsed during the war, taken to indeed a submarine, delivered to the safest place possible and then was part of a glandular plan to get the attention of the world; and more importantly, the scattered members of the Straw Hat Pirates._

 _"I am sure that the plan you told us will keep the marines busy in trying to cover up the story, despite it already been published." Silvers 'Dark King' Raleigh, along with Jinbe trying his best, ignored the other amazons that are trying to see if all men stretch like Luffy. "And I am sure that your crew will understand your message since they are aware of your style."_

 _"Me too." Luffy responded before taking a large sigh. "I just can't believe that I may have humiliated Akainu but I couldn't help Uncle Whitebeard against Blackbeard. And I heard that he did die…"_

 _"You said that he was doomed to fall in battle and that he accepted it. So you will need to get over it." Raleigh said with a smile on his face. "You have done more for the old man than I ever did. Not even Captain Roger did that much."_

 _Yes, Raleigh was part of the Roger Pirates that were as famous as the Pirate King himself. In fact, Raleigh was the first mate! That meant Raleigh was the second strongest pirate, under Gold Roger himself! And twenty years later, even the marine admirals will think twice and have doubt before challenging Raleigh; there was no way any of them can beat him._

 _"Ace was his son and I was his younger brother. There was no way I was going to cause my uncle to just die, after how he gave Ace all Big Brother ever wanted." Luffy said. And that caused even the amazons to be silent while still playing. There was just this one thing left for Luffy to do, long before trying the Grand Line again._

 _Later,_

 _"And why can't I visit my beloved while he is training!? All because I am a woman!?" Boa Hancock, one of the_ _ **Shichibukai (Seven Warlords)**_ _, is a woman of unmatched beauty and her strength is on equal levels. And she is annoying Raleigh with her schoolgirl-type crush on Luffy._

 _"I am sorry but we will be training hard and we can't spoil Luffy one bit! It will not get him stronger at all." Raleigh tried to reason with his decision but Hancock was one stubborn woman, with an iron-clad mind; one that melted when Luffy placed his hand on Hancock's that was pinching Raleigh's nose._

 _"Master Raleigh is right Hancock. It is for the best that you keep a profile as low as possible. You need to keep up your image to protect your people and I don't want my crew to gang up on me for having you visit every day." Luffy smiled which nearly caused Hancock to faint, given the close contact already. "Think you can do that for the next two years, for me?"_

 _"Y-yes! I will! I will!" Hancock was definitely not acting like the ice queen that hates men one bit when she is ever around Luffy. "Be careful Luffy and good luck!" And so, Hancock and her Amazons left the island, named Rusukaina. Being located in the dangerous Calm Belt, which surrounds the Grand Line, this island is the prefect training ground for Luffy._

 _Meanwhile, Luffy and Raleigh were the only people left on the island. They were having their dinner with an elephant that Raleigh defeated while Luffy, even with his Second Gear, couldn't even bring down. "So you will be teaching me the basics of_ _ **Kenbunshoku Haki (Observant Haki)**_ _,_ _ **Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki)**_ _and_ _ **Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki)**_ _." Luffy said over a large meat-on-a-stick, still his favorite food. "Is that all?"_

 _"Well do you want to learn more?" Raleigh said over a jug of sake, he already had his share of meat. Luffy then nodded. "Like what?"_

 _"I once used staffs from broken pipes while living with Ace but after an accident with my powers, that was the last time I ever used a polearm. But I want to fight when my Devil Fruit powers or fists don't work. Like with the admirals or any of the other pirates." Luffy gave an example and Raleigh nodded; that was the cold hard truth that Akuma no Mi powers and hand-to-hand combat can only get you so far in the Grand Line. "I am also interested in the_ _ **Rokushiki (Six Powers)**_ _from CP9 in Enies Lobby."_

 _"I usually just use swords instead of polearms and that style is exclusive to the CP9 and the Marines. I may have the knowledge on how they work, I haven't found the time to figure how to teach it." Raleigh said honestly. But Luffy wasn't disappointed,_

 _"That's okay. I will try my best to understand your lessons. After all, I have only two years so I am going to pile it all in." Luffy said with determination. "This time, I am going to learn how to protect my crew for real. I will be able to take anything the New World has to give me."_

 _"Prefect." Raleigh said with a smile. "Then let's get started."_

It was snowing that week on Rusukaina, as it was its winter week. But while the snow fell, someone was walking through it. He stopped in front of a large tree that resembled a vegetable that had lean rocks in front, one of them had a hat made from straw with a thick string attached. "Luffy!" A woman's voice was heard in the distance and towards this young man.

"Yes, yes I am coming!" Luffy said and then took the hat, which seemed to have not been touched in ages. "Hard to believe it has been two years." He mussed to himself and looked down on his trademark straw hat but didn't put it on.

Elsewhere on the island, a young woman was near some kind of campsite. But the ones that were using it weren't human. They were the native beasts that inhabit Rusukaina and make up a percentage of the dangers. She saw in awe about a crocodile and a gorilla, both many times larger than average, fight over a piece of meat-on-stick that the former playfully took from the latter, causing the two to fight over it like children. But her show was canceled prematurely when a larger-than-average lion heard her giggling and went for the kill, causing her to draw her arrow.

"Enough!" A strong masculine voice stopped them all before any conflict will happen. "That's one of my friends that I had to spend two years apart so don't think of eating her!" Glaring, the man caused the lion to back off while the crocodile and gorilla stopped their fighting over food. "And Marguerite, you are so irresponsible and insensitive, treating my friends like show freaks. I thought I knew you to be better than this!"

Marguerite is a young lady with short, unruly blond hair, long slender legs, and a slim, curvaceous figure. Like her fellow Kuja warriors from Amazon Lily that is also in the Calm Belt, she dresses in a revealing bikini top and miniskirt made out of animal skin that greatly show off her cleavage and long legs, and a white cape that seems to resemble a Marine jacket. She keeps her snake (which almost all Kuja women seem to have) whom is black and green striped wrapped around her waist at most times. She is also known to wear some type of black and white striped legging similar to a stocking on her right leg, along with high-heeled boots.

"Sorry Luffy!" Marguerite shouted, she was so interested in Luffy that she couldn't afford to get him into a bad mood; her friend as almost as scary as her queen when he is. "I-I just came to tell you that the Empress is her and ready to take you to the Sabaody Archipelago."

"I felt your signatures the moment you landed but thanks for telling me Marguerite." Luffy said and turned his attention to the three giant animals. "Looks like you will be on your own once again. I will miss you guys, you were great company. So much that I can't eat you, no matter how delicious you look." When the trio looked fearful again, Luffy laughed. "Just kidding. I never eat my friends."

And while Luffy was joking with the trio of giant animals, amusing Marguerite, he had another audience looking in a significantly different distance away. "Amazing." One of them was named Boa Marigold, older sister of Boa Hancock. She is a muscled, fat, large woman, due to a similar training method used by sumo wrestlers to bulk themselves. She also is one of many of the Kuja inhabitants who has large breasts with revealing cleavage. Her hair is arranged in a way that it looks like the patterns on a cobra's hood and to some extent, a Valkyrie's helmet.

"He is the boss of the island now." Boa Sanderson, the other older sister, said with a look of respect. Sandersonia is a large lady who resembles a snake, with a curvaceous figure and large breasts like her sisters. Her head is disproportionately large and wide to her body and her long tongue is forked, often sticking out of her mouth and has sea green eyes. Like the rest of the Kuja, she dresses in very revealing clothing: a green bikini top with white irregular patterns, a white cape over it and green panties encircled by flaps at both sides of her hips. She is usually seen accompanied with the large panther, Bacura, at her side instead of a snake like the other Kuja.

And while some of the other Kuja warriors looked more human-like, there were a couple more that knew Luffy as good as Marguerite and the Boa Sisters. There was Sweat Pea, a very large, corpulent Kuja warrior with a masculine-like build. She wears the traditional skimpy wear of the Kuja warriors, and also carries a snake weapon with her. She wears a coat around her shoulders, like Marine Officers, and has a very square, thick chin. She also wears her hair in pigtails.

And there was Aphelandra. Aphelandra is an extremely tall lady who is possibly one of the tallest Kuja from Amazon Lily. Her facial features are childlike, with wide dark brown eyes and long orange-brown hair falling evenly past her shoulders. She, like the rest of the Kuja, wears scanty attire. Her clothes consist of a blue corset bordered with yellow and studded with buttons, a similar blue bikini bottom, a white cape, and a plumed morion-type helmet with cheek guards and the Kuja emblem embossed on the front. For footwear, she wears dark outdoor boots. A sword can be seen sheathed horizontally over her lower back.

"Hey guys. How do you keep looking so young?" Luffy said when he was done saying goodbye to the three beasts that he never ate, approaching the Kuja warriors with Marguerite by his side.

"You look all the same, you are just as handsome as ever. If you do change your mind, I won't blame you for marrying me!" It seems that Hancock hadn't lost her schoolgirl-type of crush on Luffy in the past two years at all. She needs to realize that this will just embarrass herself, her sisters and her own pirate crew.

"Sorry but no. I am not interested in marriage. I am still glad that you are offering me a ride." Luffy actually did politely shot down a proposition for marriage, something that he apparently learned under Rayleigh's teachings.

"Oh! You are so sexy, even when you say 'no'!" Hancock was still a stubborn woman as well, she refused to believe that Luffy is totally not into her; all that matters to Hancock is the delusion that Luffy is just shy about his 'feelings towards her'.

Whatever, Luffy did find her funny and silly from time to time. And with a smile on his face that never died that day, Strawhat Luffy had placed his most prized treasure right where it belongs, resting on his head. "Let's go!" It made him excited to think of how fun it will be to see his crew again.

XXXXX

'How fun is it, indeed.' Luffy definitely wasn't having any fun when he did arrive at the Sabaody Archipelago, with all its bubbles and giant roots. He did get off where no one will see the Kuja Pirates carrying a pirate that went missing for two years. Of course, Hancock did provide him with a jacket that concealed his identity to some degree along with a backpack that was so full that it looked like it was going to burst open. But that was all that was good about his return.

There were so many signatures on the entire Archipelago that it was difficult for Luffy to sort his crew out. It didn't help that Luffy had no way of identifying his crew's spirits since he only learned how to sense each other's presence long after they were separated in various places around Paradise. That was why Luffy never found a single one so he decided to try and find Rayleigh.

The former First Mate of the Roger Pirates and the Dark King himself left as soon as Luffy was able to get the basics down in **Haki** , **Rokushiki** , and using the Bo Staff was from the strongest tree bark on Rusukaina. Rayleigh said that he had nothing left to teach Luffy and departed the island in half the time than previously thought; but at least it left Luffy with an entire year to master his new power and fighting style and even learn new ways of using them. But Rayleigh had also left Luffy with the means to finding him when the latter should ever return to the Archipelago.

That was the Vivre Card, with Rayleigh's name on it, which will point in his direction. And while Luffy was following the Vivre Card, he ran into a group of imposters that tried to pass off as both him and his crew by recruiting other pirates with bounties and acting like gangsters to the native inhabitants. After accidently running into the large man that claimed to be him, Luffy found himself only half-heartily apologizing over his excitement about seeing his real crew again. When that imposter refused to let him go without any trouble, Luffy had to knock the imposters out right in front of everyone.

Then Luffy ran into more imposters going to the outskirts of the city that he arrived in. Being the curious type, Luffy followed them and saw that there were various crews from the entire Paradise section of the Grand Line. But that could mean that there will be marines watching the pirates in a waited attempt to capture them all.

And the marines came indeed and exposed the imposters. The man who posed as Luffy was actually named "Three-Tongued" Demaro Black with a bounty that was lower than the other pirates that he recruited. And while those pirates were outraged about the deception, they were doomed to be captured.

But the marines had also cut off the exits so Luffy saw no way to get out without being spotted. "Mugiwara!" Luffy sighed because now he was cornered and approached by a familiar face.

"Oh. It's you from two years ago, I think you were named Sentomaru." Luffy said to the one calling out for him; Sentomaru, bodyguard to the Marine genius named Vegapunk and the so-called 'man with the strongest defense'. Sentomaru is a large man with a stocky build similar to that of a sumo wrestler. His face and haircut, resembles a look of a woman, except for the large scar extending from his left eye to the left corner of his mouth. His outfit consists of a shirt that resembles a giant brown bib or apron with an emblem meaning "heaven" on the front, and a large red and white rope. Sentomaru also has bandages wrapped around his right fist and elbows, along with the Kanji Sen (戦 battle?) tattooed on his left shoulder. Sentomaru carries around a huge, two-edged axe, as tall as himself, and just as large.

And now after two years, he is shown wearing a Marine coat over his shoulders due to his acceptance into the Marines. He has also removed the bandages around his arms. On his coat, the middle design's outline changed from a light green to white and the white tomoe around that became thicker. "Right Mugiwara! I am the one that failed to capture you but unlike two years ago, I am officially a member of the marines and I now have the freedom in the world to arrest!"

"Sorry Sentomaru, but I am not going to get caught. You might have a new cape but I have been training as well." Luffy smirked which infuriated Sentomaru.

"PK-5!" Sentomaru yelled at the two Pacifistas by his side. They were in resembled to a giant man of the Shichibukai, Bartholomew Kuma. But while the original has the power to repel anything imaginable, these replicas shot lasers instead. And the Pacifista, that had the label 'PX-5', attacked Luffy with a volley of three separate lasers.

Yet Luffy wasn't worried under his cloak and successfully dodged those lasers without a hitch. "You won't hit anything if you are that slow." Luffy said while ignoring the explosion that occurred on one of the trees behind him.

"What?" Sentomaru uttered in disbelief, he wasn't aware that Luffy's speed and reflexes where to the extent of dodging lasers that were as fast as pure light.

Meanwhile, Luffy prepared to deal with PX-5 and braced his legs. **"Soru. (Shave)"** Luffy then vanished with speeds that made all movement seem still to him. **"Buso Koka: Gomu-Gomu no Pistol. (Armament Hardening: Gum-Gum Pistol)"** Luffy's arm then turned black and harden which added more power to Luffy's signature attack and sent the giant robot falling to the ground with a sent in its face. **"Rankyaku. (Storm Leg)"** And to finish the job, Luffy kicked the air so hard that he created a vacuum line that cut right through the Pacifista. **"Kamisori. (Razor)"** Luffy then moved through the air itself to grab his backpack and move past the marines.

And when Luffy did all this, the marines only saw him disappear and PX-5 exploding. Sentomaru was unable to see Luffy destroying the Pacifista either. 'What's going on!? How did Mugiwara destroy PX-5 so easily and so fast!?'

"Thanks for the show but I am late! Hope not to see you all again!" Luffy shouted out for the marines to see him well on his way to the shore, where Luffy's ship and his crew await him!

"Wait Mugiwara!" Sentomaru called out to no avail as that didn't even slow Luffy down. And as fast as the pirate was, even while carrying the heavy backpack, there was no way for Sentomaru or any of the marines to catch up now.

XXXXX

And with Sentomaru's laughs slowly but surely growing fainter as Luffy ran which chuckling at how good he felt. He just had defeated the same robot that nearly wiped out his crew in only a few moves; and all this under a couple of seconds! 'This proves that I can take on Paradise! I can't wait to see how strong my crew has gotten!'

"Oh Luffy!" Speak of the devil and he will come; that is what they say and Luffy will agree when they saw two people that he could recognize even after twenty years.

"Luffy! I knew that you were the cause of this trouble! You never change!" It was Sanji, the cook and martial artist, and Zoro, Luffy's First Mate and one of the swordsmen of the crew!

After the two year time skip, Sanji now covers his right eye, shows his left eye, and has grown his hair just slightly longer. He also sports a dark goatee, and stubble on his upper lip. Both his left and right eyebrow are curled to the right. Sanji's neck has gotten thicker as well, similar to Luffy and Zoro. He has grown taller, and therefore remains nearly the exact same height as Zoro. He wears a black and yellow 3-piece suit.

And Zoro seemed to have gained a new scar running down his left eye, which is now implied to be critically injured as it is always closed. His neck appears to be much thicker, he is more muscular and his hair is now a little longer, now slightly slicked back. Zoro now wears a long, open dark-green coat closed on his waist and is held by a red sash, in which his three swords are now tucked into, and his black bandanna is tied around his left forearm. His coat exposes his bare chest, revealing his green haramaki underneath the coat. He also appeared to have grown taller.

Luffy had to sweat drop at Sanji's comment. 'We finally met after two years and that is what I get as my 'welcome back'?' But Luffy still smiled,

"Zoro, Sanji, I am happy to see you all!" Luffy ran even faster and hugged both his first mate and cook. Zoro and Sanji may have flinched but didn't feel disturbed by this. Instead, they smiled; their captain greeted them like family rather than just his crew. It was like Luffy considers them to be his slightly older brothers.

"Oh." Luffy then released his brother-like hug as sudden as he started it. "They sent the other Pacifista after me. I thought I had lost them." Zoro and Sanji felt like sweat-dropping, their captain still talked a lot like a little kid but at least Luffy isn't all different. "As my first mate and my cook, can you please destroy it~? It is going to be an annoyance."

Seeing the replica of Kuma, one with the label 'PX-7', come their way, the duo nodded and moved in. "I cut him/I snapped his neck!" Luffy smirked to see that Zoro and Sanji still have this competitive side; they made an opponent that took them out easy seem more like a fly between their eyes now.

"Nicely done. But the marines are coming at their fastest pace with their guns. So let's go!" Luffy called out for his two crew members who agreed that was to be the best move of maneuver. "Oh, but first!" When Zoro and Sanji just caught up with Luffy, he halted them and directed their attention to a hill.

"Rayleigh?" Zoro said, and that same man with silver hair was there indeed. And he looked rather the same than two years ago but with a new wardrobe change. He now is wearing a black T-shirt as well as his silver hooded cloak.

"I can't leave without saying this Master!" Luffy called out to Rayleigh and somehow, the duo besides him felt a shiver up their spines. Maybe they were trying to picture their captain being trained and instructed by the same, former First Mate to the Pirate King. "Master, thank you for helping me two years ago and training me! I am going to the top for sure! I will become the Pirate King!"

Sanji and Zoro heard that plenty of times but two years is a long time, they were actually glad to hear that again. They saw just the damage and trauma Luffy had to witness, they were all worried that their captain will give up on their dream; the one thing that Luffy never did while everyone else had tried to do in their own way.

And as for Rayleigh, he smiled. "Then go! Go to the top of the world, my student!" Rayleigh shouted as he saw the three pirates run, never looking back. "Go, my son. I know you will do it."

End of Chapter 2.

 ***Thanks for the reviews and support! I was getting worried since I am used to my own original ideas in my stories, not basing a couple of them on another author's work. I still give credit to RyuUchihaSenji. Now enjoy the rest of the story!***


	3. The Passing of Pirates

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

"One Piece" – Speaking

'One Piece' – Thoughts

 _One Piece_ – Flashbacks

 **One Piece** – Techniques

A Large Leap

The Passing of Pirates

 _Previously on A Large Leap,_

" _Zoro, Sanji, I am happy to see you all!" Luffy ran even faster and hugged both his first mate and cook. Zoro and Sanji may have flinched but didn't feel disturbed by this. Instead, they smiled; their captain greeted them like family rather than just his crew. It was like Luffy considers them to be his slightly older brothers._

" _Oh." Luffy then released his brother-like hug as sudden as he started it. "They sent the other Pacifista after me. I thought I had lost them." Zoro and Sanji felt like sweat-dropping, their captain still talked a lot like a little kid but at least Luffy isn't all different. "As my first mate and my cook, can you please destroy it~? It is going to be an annoyance."_

 _Seeing the replica of Kuma, one with the label 'PX-7', come their way, the duo nodded and moved in. "I cut him/I snapped his neck!" Luffy smirked to see that Zoro and Sanji still have this competitive side; they made an opponent that took them out easy seem more like a fly between their eyes now._

" _Nicely done. But the marines are coming at their fastest pace with their guns. So let's go!" Luffy called out for his two crew members who agreed that was to be the best move of maneuver. "Oh, but first!" When Zoro and Sanji just caught up with Luffy, he halted them and directed their attention to a hill._

" _Rayleigh?" Zoro said, and that same man with silver hair was there indeed. And he looked rather the same than two years ago but with a new wardrobe change. He now is wearing a black T-shirt as well as his silver hooded cloak._

 _"I can't leave without saying this Master!" Luffy called out to Rayleigh and somehow, the duo besides him felt a shiver up their spines. Maybe they were trying to picture their captain being trained and instructed by the same, former First Mate to the Pirate King. "Master, thank you for helping me two years ago and training me! I am going to the top for sure! I will become the Pirate King!"_

 _Sanji and Zoro heard that plenty of times but two years is a long time, they were actually glad to hear that again. They saw just the damage and trauma Luffy had to witness, they were all worried that their captain will give up on their dream; the one thing that Luffy never did while everyone else had tried to do in their own way._

 _And as for Rayleigh, he smiled. "Then go! Go to the top of the world, my student!" Rayleigh shouted as he saw the three pirates run, never looking back. "Go, my son. I know you will do it."_

"Dark King Rayleigh!" When that same squad of marines finally got to the same hill, the trio of pirates were already long gone. Instead, they faced the old legend who just cut miniature crevice in the ground in front of them. All with a single stroke from his katanna.

"Sorry boys but this is the Farwell for my student and I can't have you raining down on his parade." Rayleigh said to them as they flinched. "I advise, for your sakes and your lives, to not cross this line." In other places in the Sabaody Archipelago, various marine squads were facing problems of their own in which they can't advance to try and capture the Straw Hats.

In one section, a sudden downpour had ruined their gunpowder and forced them to remain put; even though it was clear and sunny throughout the rest of the Archipelago. Next was an attack of giant insects that the marines were no match for. Then there were reports of giant men in girl's clothing and makeup attacking as well. And then there were the few reports saying the same thing, marine squads were on their feet mumbling instead of pursing.

And the culprit hadn't been spotted, until now. When Luffy, Zoro and Sanji were hurrying towards where their ship was supposed to be, someone had cut them off. "I should have known that you will be causing trouble already. It is such a pain to have to make sure you will be able to escape."

While Sanji was instantly in love mood that he was infamously known for, Luffy had to notice that his cook was acting like this was the first woman he had seen in his life. He even saw Sanji trying to smell this woman which creeped her out. "You! You were from Thriller Bark!" Luffy may have been slow and dense two years ago but during his training, he had improved in that area. "Did Moria sent you here for our shadows again!?"

The woman smirked, "I am glad that the captain is getting more observant and actually remembers a woman's face." This was Perona, formerly a member of the Mysterious Four of the island sized ship known as Thriller Bark. And she had the power to create what she called 'hallows' which were ghost like beings that can do various effects on her enemies. She mostly used the 'hallows' that can force her victims to become 'negative' and lose any will to fight her, this made her very dangerous.

Perona has unusually big, round eyes, and has long, light pink hair. Now after two years, Perona has a more mature look than before, wearing a long black strapless dress with lavender frills, red high heeled boots and a big black top hat with white floral decor. She has a pink bat tattoo on her left bicep and a watch on her left wrist, and wears pink nail polish on her fingernails. She still has her signature devil-design parasol, and also carries a stuffed animal resembling her old bodyguard, Kumashi, with her. Additionally, she now wears her hair in multiple spiral braids on the back of her head.

"But no. I haven't seen Lord Moria since the war. I was forced to come here because of mean old Hawkeye~!" Perona said in a childish tone that made all except Sanji sweat drop. "Now keep going! There are still marines on the island that are stilling going to get you!"

Luffy and Zoro flinched and then grabbed Sanji, pulling the cook and the bubble bags that the latter happened to be carrying during their run. Thankfully they didn't need to run any farther when a better mode of transportation came from the sky.

"Hey guys! I have come to pick you up!" A giant bird had appeared but to the average eye, it seems to be talking. But the pirate trio were better than that and they saw a new yet familiar face, riding the bird.

"Chopper!" It was their doctor and the youngest member of their crew, Tony-Tony Chopper. Most of the time, Chopper is a toddler-sized human/reindeer hybrid, but his Human-Human Devil Fruit abilities allow him to change his appearance depending on the situation. Chopper's left antler is braced at the base by a metal plate because it was reattached after being broken during his search for the Amiudake on his home island when he was younger (where he thought the Amiudake can cure his foster father's disease) and ran into the leader of his old herd, who severely injured him.

Chopper now wears a blue cap that has a ring of dots around the circle, while the cap has buckles hanging from it. He wears this over his old pink hat. He also wears a white and yellow vertical-striped tank top, and an orange pair of shorts. Aside from being slightly slimmer and having his fur changing from dark brown into a light brown color, Chopper's standard form has not changed.

"Come on! My new friend can get us to the ship faster than the marines!" Chopper shouted while reaching out one of his hoofs. Unsurprisingly, Luffy stretched his arm with the other pulling Zoro and Sanji together. The trip was short for the two who despise each other as Luffy pulled himself and them onto the bird very swiftly.

But Chopper was surprised to be pulled into a hug by Luffy, kind like how the captain did Zoro and Sanji. "Sorry Chopper. I just wanted to see my doctor again and you looked too cute to resist. You look more like a doctor than before!" Luffy smirked and then had to see Chopper rant about how 'he isn't cute' and 'thank you Luffy'. 'I guess that even two years on your own can't change everything.' Luffy thought to himself but never lost his smile to see his young doctor again.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, at one of the shores of the Sabaody Archipelago, laid the Thousand Sunny; the ship of the Straw Hat Pirates.

The Thousand Sunny is a brig sloop, a type of ship that relies on the skills of its navigator. The ship has a lawn on her deck, complete with a swing and a slide, as well as an observation tower for a crow's nest. The huge masts give the ship extreme maneuverability. Like the later Going Merry, the figurehead is an animal's head, specifically a lion with a stylized mane. Due to the mane's ambiguity, the lion was mistaken for both a sunflower and a sun during the ship's construction in the past. The ship holds sixteen cannons: seven traditional cannons on each side of the ship and two specialized air cannons.

"I sure hope Chopper can find them in time. Sooner or later, the marines are going to come with their battleships."

"I am sure Nami. That giant bird is Chopper's friend, they will come here."

"Maybe, but I am still worried Usopp." Nami is a slim young woman of average height, with orange hair and light brown eyes. Many people consider her to be very attractive or even beautiful. She has a black tattoo on her left shoulder, which represents _mikan_ (Tangerines), and pinwheels.

Nami's hair has grown rather long, reaching down to her lower back. Her breasts have also grown but apart from this her appearance has not changed much, save for the fact that both her body curves and hourglass figure have become more pronounced. Oddly, her face now looks younger: with her eyes bigger (with the irises now showing), droopier, and placed lower on her face. She also has grown slightly taller.

Nami's outfit consists of a revealing green and white bikini halter top, tight low-rider jeans (that expose a bit of her hips and rear), orange high-heeled sandals, and a pair of pearl-like earrings. Nami sports a new belt with a "Beli" symbol on it where she can also keep the pieces of her new Clima-Tact on the right side and puts the belt around her waist when she is fighting seriously against an opponent.

And Usopp is a slim teenager with medium-length black woolly hair and a long nose, which is apparently an allusion to Pinocchio (a wooden boy from a story of the same name who possessed a nose that would stretch after he lied). Usopp inherited his famous nose from his mother, while the rest of his face closely resembles his father's.

After two years, Usopp has become much more muscular than before and has grown his hair out. He has become "manlier" and is slightly taller than before. Usopp now has a new pair of goggles around his neck (his sniper goggles weren't shown) and has some headphones or ear protectors on. He also now has a little goatee along with a new white sun cap he wears on his head. He also has a new pair of rolled-up yellow pants with red suspenders, and a pair of boots. And his trademark yellow satchel has been replaced with a red one, but he still has his blue and white striped wrist band on his left arm.

"Nice that you are worried for the captain? Or maybe it is the swordsman and the cook that you want back so badly." Nami found herself blushing at the first sentence that died down at the start of the next one until she was green at the end.

"No way!" Nami shouted, "Well maybe. I do miss Luffy but at least he did more to me than Zoro and Sanji combined! But knowing him, what chance do I have Robin?" Nami answered with a forlorn tone.

Nico Robin is a tall, slender, yet athletic woman with shoulder-length black hair. She has depicted with brown eyes, with dark, wide pupils. And she has a long, thin and defined nose. Robin also resembles her mother greatly, with the exception of her hair color and style as well as having slightly darker skin tone than her. Robin's limbs are very long, especially her legs, contributing greatly to both her fighting capabilities (given the nature of her Devil Fruit powers) and overall height.

Robin's hair has grown longer, down to her lower back and is pulled back, revealing more of her forehead and ears. Her outfit now consists of a long pink sari-like skirt with a partially-zipped purple leather vest with a V-neck line similar to Boa Hancock's and a white rose printed on the left breast near the shoulder that exposed her stomach, sunglasses, pink high heeled pumps, and a pink backpack. She wears sunglasses which she hangs on her forehead. Unlike the other members of the crew, Robin did not grow taller; she remains at 188 cm.

"I am sure that all you need to give Luffy a chance. After all, you can be sure to feel even slightly better knowing that you did figure out just how the captain feels about you, than never did." Robin answered, "That is unless you did figure out that he did love you and the jungle animal he is, he might ravage you and lick the skin as if it was bones still covered in meat…"

"OW! Robin, cut that out! You are scaring poor Nami!" A deep man's voice cut her off, much to relief of everyone present. Robin still had that twisted and sickening imagination but now she was referring to something a little perverted this time. Usopp and Nami secretly wished that Robin will just stick to them possibly dying in a gruesomely graphic way.

"Thanks Franky but you scared me already with that body that is more freakish and perverted than before!" Nami said before she shouted at him.

"Aw, if you mean it~!"

"I was not commenting you!" Nami realized that Franky still takes insults the wrong way, which can get annoying. And who can blame her because, as a direct result of the modifications that he conducted upon himself as well as the years spent as a ship dismantler, bounty hunter, and street thug in Water 7, Franky is a powerfully built man that doesn't wear pants with a height of at least seven feet, making him the second-tallest member of the Straw Hat crew.

Over the two years he was on his own, Franky used Vegapunk's blueprints to vastly reconfigure his body, repairing the damage he accidentally caused to himself and replacing some old functions his body used to have with better and more powerful implements. Franky's hair is now controllable, and can change different styles instantly by pushing his nose for more than three seconds. While he used to wear it up in a pompadour style and can still do such, he now tends to keep his hair retracted and sport a buzz cut, or otherwise experiment with different hairstyles, sometimes changing his hairstyle to a theme which fits the circumstances he finds himself in.

He also has two stitch-mark scars on his torso running down from the back of his neck indicating that he had sewn his skin back on. His shoulders, torso, and arms are also much bigger than before, and with studded hands that look almost robotic in appearance, but he also revealed that inside of his huge arms he still has a set of normal-sized robotic hands. He now appears to be wearing metal rigged suspenders. He has replaced his elbows with large, light blue hinges, his shoulders with a large red ball and socket joint with "BF-37" written on them, and his forearms with large, light blue cubes, with his trademark star tattoo being split by an edge. Surprisingly, Franky's forearms also have hair on them even though they are clearly robotic, and his large robot hands can even wear gloves. These new features house upgrades he gave himself over the past two years. He now wears a red coconut tree-motived Hawaiian shirt and red swim briefs.

"It is a pity. You changed and modified yourself to become a better shipwright and everyone is calling a bigger freak instead. How sad." Franky just nodded at the sound of an old man's voice.

"At least you got the better life Brook. Being a rock star in the past two years and having all those fans still loving you!" Franky said to the last person that could become a national music star, a living skeleton with an afro still on his head!

Brook is an extremely tall skeleton, standing at 266 cm (8'8½") in height and thus he is the tallest member of the Straw Hat crew. Despite having no skin, he still has an afro which he says is because his hair has very strong roots.

He has changed over the past two years to more colorful and high-end clothes compared to his old and gentleman-style outfit, as though to represent a rock star. He has heart-shaped sunglasses, a yellow feather boa, a top hat with a giant crown on the brim and orange red trousers with a floral design. Despite being a skeleton, he grew to 277 cm (9'1"), and remains the tallest in the crew.

"Sure but now I am a pirate once again and dear Nami, dear Robin…" The two woman released a sigh because they had a bad feeling as to what is going to happen next. "May I take a look at you…?"

"I told you 'no' two years ago and I am still saying it!" Nami spoke out loud while Robin just shook her head. She was disappointed to see Brook show barely any progress to get out of that perverted and ridiculous habit to ask for something that is going to get his bones broken; and possibly kill him again.

"Then who will you say 'yes' to?" Brook said while on the deck, as stiff and straight like his usual posture. And Nami never answered and only showed a burning red color on her face.

"Shut up!" Nami said with a huff while everyone was staring at her for a good answer. Thankfully for her, Nami was saved by a coincidence arrival.

"Everyone!" That was faint and in the distance but the Straw Hats can never forget that voice. It was their captain! They turned over to see that Chopper and his bid bird friend had arrived. Then they saw Zoro and Sanji on the back but what made their day was the fourth passenger. It was Luffy.

"Captain!"

"Luffy!"

"Luffy-san!"

They all cried out for their beloved captain, seeing him for the first time in two years. And while Luffy was amazed to see that his crew now really scream power and skill after two years of training, there was just this party crasher. When Sanji happened to see that Nami and Robin weren't very modest about their skin and their chest, he suddenly got a nosebleed that was so strong, he was sent several meters off the bird!

"SANJI!"

XXXXX

Once they got Sanji on the ship with Zoro and Luffy, Franky decided to show off his new body to his captain. But instead of eyes with bright gleams, frozen in awe, Luffy just smirked and kept himself together. "Looking nice Franky. I just hope you haven't found a way to do your fine details and fit through doors with your oversized arms of yours."

Most of his crew were shocked to see such a deep change in their captain. A few of them were actually just fine with it; Zoro never actually cared for what was cool about being a freak in a speedo, Robin was passive and Nami couldn't ever tolerate the childish behavior one bit. She was actually worried about Luffy because of how Chopper and Usopp were over excited about it all.

"You bet Captain! I have got a hundred new tricks to show you!" Franky said, trying to get the child out of Luffy but the captain just nodded.

"I am sure. It has been two years but now is the time to get on our way to Fishman Island." Luffy then said why walking towards one of the masts. "We have been training for this day since our defeat. Why should we wait any longer? I am ordering everyone, as the captain, to take this ship and its crew down to the last island in Paradise. At once!" Luffy shouted while in a resting position that still made him look cool; maybe it was the cloak, still concealing most of his appearance.

The Straw Hats were surprised to hear such seriousness but Luffy was the captain; their lives, their dreams and this ship were all on his shoulders. After a few seconds of digesting all this, they all smiled in their own way. "Aye-aye!"

But there was just this last problem, "Stop Straw Hats! We will never let you set sail!" Luffy sighed and the crew saw that they were suddenly surrounded by marines on their battleships. And they wasted no time sending a wave of cannon balls at them!

"I can't believe it. Looks like I have to spoil the surprise and so soon." Luffy said and placed one foot on the rail, fixing his stance for something until they heard a woman's voice in the distance.

 **"Slave Arrow!"** That barrage of cannonballs was thwarted when every single one was hit by some kind of arrow that turned them to lifeless stone and fall into the sea harmlessly. While the marines were trying to figure who was responsible for this, a familiar ship came in all its glory; and with two serpents pulling it through the water. "What is the meaning of this? Why are there Marine ships in the way of my passage!?"

Luffy then relaxed and got off the railing. "Thank god she showed up." Luffy said before turning to see curious and demanding looks on his crew's faces. "Relax. Hancock is one of my friends and she will be gladly to let us sail off."

"Hancock!? As in Boa Hancock, one of the **Shichibukai**!? You know her!?" Nami shouted and Luffy couldn't help but notice a tang of jealously in her shock. There is no doubt about what she is thinking of her captain. Time to set her straight.

"Yeah, Kuma sent me to her island two years ago. But I haven't been to Amazon Lily ever since. They were the one that just picked me up from training and the ones who brought me here." Luffy said it all in one breath and it seems to work. Nami has calmed down to the point that Luffy could only feel shock lingering instead of envy. The only thing that explanation hadn't fixed was that Sanji was in his face about how 'unfair it was for him to land in Amazon Lily'. "Whatever Sanji. She is taking a big risk here for her name, her image and her people. Why aren't you all getting ready!?"

His crew flinched at that tone of authority tone that came out of nowhere but this outburst was everything like a captain should be. They hurried to get the ship ready to expand the bubble that was laced around the Thousand Sunny, to get ready to submerge. "But first, I need to clean up the rest of the mess."

And as soon as Luffy said those words, Luffy focused his glance on all ships except the one that Hancock is seducing. No one noticed that every single marine on those ships had fallen into blissful unconscious while their masts and sails each 'mysteriously' been sliced in half. Regardless, those ships are going anywhere and those marines are twitching until morning tomorrow.

'And thanks Hancock. I really appreciate it and I can't wait to see your island and you again when we are done with the New World.' Luffy then somehow sent those words from his thoughts into the **Shichibukai's** mind. Thankfully, the marines were blind with harmless lust to notice that Hancock was blushing terribly and with her own thoughts that she managed to keep to herself.

"Alright! Off to Fishman Island!" Luffy proclaimed once the Thousand Sunny was finally underwater and well on its way to the final island in Paradise.

"YEAH!" The sea echoed with the cheers of one small but strong and tight-knit crew.

XXXXX

"So Luffy." Zoro said with a few of lumps on his head. A couple from a scared Chopper and Usopp when he talked about using his swords to go fishing; they were afraid that Zoro will pop the bubble and kill them! But when Luffy reminded them that this was made from the bubble back on the surface of the Sabaody Archipelago, it will take a change in atmosphere that isn't found in the ocean to burst it. Nami added to that fact, saying that the bubble can take any damage from the outside and inside of the bubble. But Zoro tried to once again get fish with his swords and got twice the amount of lumps on the head. "Why are you still wearing that cloak?"

Now this got the entire crew's attention. They weren't hiding anything in plain sight but Luffy never discarded the cloak when he got on the Thousand Sunny. "Oh. I guess that I have gotten used to it and forgot." Luffy chuckled and took off the cloak, only to place it next to his place back at the base of the main mast.

And everyone was surprised to see a real change in Luffy's choice of wardrobe. Aside from his signature straw hat, Luffy looked totally different. His raven hair was significantly longer and yet not spikey or wild. He was wearing a robe, somewhat like Zoro, that showed off a piece of his bare chest that no one will complain about. His wooly blue pants seemed remarkably comfortable and the belt keeping it together had a polearm a lot like Nami's attached along with a pair of daggers. On his hands were a pair of gloves that had some kind of metal at the knuckles and Luffy was wearing sandals that were all black.

Chopper, Usopp, Franky, Brook had their eyes filled with awe. Zoro, Sanji and Robin were looking at Luffy with new found respect; with the latter and Nami trying to hide even a slight blush on their cheeks. There was something about this new Luffy that ladies find it hard to resist. If only Luffy can prove capable in the soon future of seeing this and responding in a way to both spare broken hearts and seize the rare opportunity.

"Two years is a long time everyone. I had a lot of time on my hands on the Calm Belt island of Rusukaina to adapt and be ready for anything." Luffy said with a smirk that made everyone's day, even in the dark undersea. "And I will love to hear what you have learned and mastered over the last two years."

"You first captain." Robin said with a smile and her blush slightly bigger while Nami couldn't say anything and neither did everyone else. But while they were having this nice group session, they were followed with the help of a shadow creature that resembled the cross between a cow and a giant fish.

"Captain! There they are! The Straw Hats!" Attached to this sea creature was a ship that was pretty much like any galleon except for the plow head that resembled the one of a caribou. There was a crew manning it but the shadows of the giant roots concealed them for the time being. Including the one with the shape of a shovel in hand that shouted.

"I know you idiot." The captain seemed to have his sleeves covering his arms and hands like he was wearing a strait jacket. Even his voice was like that of a madman. "Mugiwara got away last time but here under the ocean, there is no way to run now! Ke-hi-hi-hi!"

End of Chapter 3.

 ***Thanks for the rave reviews! I love this story already! I just wish April was warmer when it ended, along with my first semester at George Mason University. And I am glad to make this my first update in May after a couple of disappointing starts to two new stories, one of them I found myself deleting! I hope it doesn't happen again any time soon. So please enjoy this story!***


	4. Trip Of Ten Thousand Meters

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

"One Piece" – Speaking

'One Piece' – Thoughts

 _One Piece_ – Flashbacks

 **One Piece** – Techniques

A Large Leap

Trip Of Ten Thousand Meters

 _Previously on A Large Leap,_

" _So Luffy." Zoro said with a few of lumps on his head. A couple from a scared Chopper and Usopp when he talked about using his swords to go fishing; they were afraid that Zoro will pop the bubble and kill them! But when Luffy reminded them that this was made from the bubble back on the surface of the Sabaody Archipelago, it will take a change in atmosphere that isn't found in the ocean to burst it. Nami added to that fact, saying that the bubble can take any damage from the outside and inside of the bubble. But Zoro tried to once again get fish with his swords and got twice the amount of lumps on the head. "Why are you still wearing that cloak?"_

 _Now this got the entire crew's attention. They weren't hiding anything in plain sight but Luffy never discarded the cloak when he got on the Thousand Sunny. "Oh. I guess that I have gotten used to it and forgot." Luffy chuckled and took off the cloak, only to place it next to his place back at the base of the main mast._

 _And everyone was surprised to see a real change in Luffy's choice of wardrobe. Aside from his signature straw hat, Luffy looked totally different. His raven hair was significantly longer and yet not spikey or wild. He was wearing a robe, somewhat like Zoro, that showed off a piece of his bare chest that no one will complain about. His wooly blue pants seemed remarkably comfortable and the belt keeping it together had a polearm a lot like Nami's attached along with a pair of daggers. On his hands were a pair of gloves that had some kind of metal at the knuckles and Luffy was wearing sandals that were all black._

 _Chopper, Usopp, Franky, Brook had their eyes filled with awe. Zoro, Sanji and Robin were looking at Luffy with new found respect; with the latter and Nami trying to hide even a slight blush on their cheeks. There was something about this new Luffy that ladies find it hard to resist. If only Luffy can prove capable in the soon future of seeing this and responding in a way to both spare broken hearts and seize the rare opportunity._

 _"Two years is a long time everyone. I had a lot of time on my hands on the Calm Belt island of Rusukaina to adapt and be ready for anything." Luffy said with a smirk that made everyone's day, even in the dark undersea. "And I will love to hear what you have learned and mastered over the last two years."_

 _"You first captain." Robin said with a smile and her blush slightly bigger while Nami couldn't say anything and neither did everyone else. But while they were having this nice group session, they were followed with the help of a shadow creature that resembled the cross between a cow and a giant fish._

 _"Captain! There they are! The Straw Hats!" Attached to this sea creature was a ship that was pretty much like any galleon except for the plow head that resembled the one of a caribou. There was a crew manning it but the shadows of the giant roots concealed them for the time being. Including the one with the shape of a shovel in hand that shouted._

 _"I know you idiot." The captain seemed to have his sleeves covering his arms and hands like he was wearing a strait jacket. Even his voice was like that of a madman. "Mugiwara got away last time but here under the ocean, there is no way to run now! Ke-hi-hi-hi!"_

"Alright. It is only fair." Luffy finally answered when his crew had gotten settled down at last. "On the island of Rusukaina, the basics of my training were a lot like back home in the East Blue. I learned how to adapt, to improve my strength, speed, reflexes and endurance. It was as hard as when Gramps trained me but I got some good results." Luffy started and made a small grin at the two women in his crew felt a little hot under the collar. "But what I really focused on where the three forms of **Haki** (Ambition), the **Rokushiki (Six Powers)** style and using a staff again."

"Using a staff again Luffy?" Nami asked, as she was the most curious and she happened to be the only person on the crew to use a polearm, such as a staff, as her main method of combat. "You mean that you used one before?"

"Back when I was seven until I decided that it didn't work with my Devil Fruit powers. That is why it took very long under Ralyleigh's training but nothing was too hard for the Dark King and the First Mate to the Pirate King." Luffy said in a warm tone that spoke greatly of one of his recent idols. And to finish off, Luffy took out the three-bar staff from his belt and shifted the weapon to full length; Luffy then begin to spin it until there was this playful breeze that made his crew laugh, chuckle or giggle at the sensation.

"Any other questions?" Luffy said and placed the staff back into three separate yet bonded pieces, to return it to the back of his waist.

"Yeah!" Usopp shouted out, "Just what do you mean by 'three forms of Haki'? I never heard of it." Usopp might be honest and a few do agree but the rest seem to be familiar with the name.

"Haki, for lack of a better definition, is weaponized spirits, ambition and will." Luffy explained. "In three different forms, one can use their own spirit to dominate the battlefield, overcome seemingly impossible odds and survive even most dangers. It is very hard to show these three forms so I am going to ask some of you to remember the 'Manta' from Skypiea."

"Manta?" Nami asked while Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, and Zoro were trying to remember anything about that name. "AH!" They all gasped at the same thought, "That thing that the priests and that god Eneru used to dodge and predict our moves and read our minds!"

"Right. Manta is merely another name for this first form of Haki, **Kenbunshoku Haki** or Observation Haki. It allows your spirit to reach into the souls and minds your opponents. Dodging enemy moves, predicting the next attack and reading minds is pretty much the most at what you can do." Luffy said before he sealed his mouth shut. 'You can also understand animals.'

"Whoa!" Chopper said while the rest of the crew moved like they were hit in the head. "Was that your voice? But you didn't move a lip."

'I don't need to. I said that **Kenbunshoku Haki** can help you read one's soul and mind. When you master it enough, you can converse with someone through something that is coined as telepathy.' Everyone nodded. "Now that is the first form, for the second form I want you to watch closely." Luffy then rolled down the sleeve on his left arm, only for the arm to suddenly turn black!

"What happened!?" Nami was shocked like a few more to be sure.

"With the second form of Haki, **Busoshoku Haki** or Armament Haki. It involves you using your spirit as an invisible suit of armor that deals a great amount of power if you master it. You may also use **Busoshoku Haki** on your physical body to harden it and increase your over all power. But there is this reason **Busoshoku Haki** are popular among Haki users." Luffy started and was glad to see everyone on the edge of their seats to hear more. " **Busoshoku Haki** allows you to interact with Devil Fruit users, to hit their solid and powerless form and deal damage. Even to a Logia user."

Everyone then gasped like before. "You got it. That was how Rayleigh was able to harm and hold off a Logia user like Kizaru two years ago." Luffy verified it. " **Busoshoku Haki** does allow you to harm Logia users, to hurt them and touch them. Logia are never intangible to this form of Haki."

"That is so cool! Can anyone learn it!?" Chopper was just over his head, thinking about all those times they were against the seemingly invincible Logia users and now they have the answer for future confrontations.

"I am afraid that I will have to get to that later Chopper. Remember, there is this one final form of Haki that I have to share with you." Luffy said politely and everyone nodded. "It is called **Haoshoku Haki** , Conqueror's Haki. And it is the rarest form of Haki there is."

"Why? You can't learn it?" Nami asked and Luffy shook his head.

"You can learn it, practice it and master this form of Haki. It is just impossible to unlock or obtain it unlike the first two forms. It can only be awakened by those who are born with **Haoshoku Haki**." Luffy explained and this made perfect sense. "Now think back to when we were fighting the Flying Fish Pirates and I landed in the house of their boss, forcing him to unleash his bison on us. I didn't want to waste time with that stead so I tried to scare it into running away. But something else I didn't expect happened instead."

Everyone then saw what Luffy meant, that bison looked intimidated for sure. It was covered in deep sweat and tried to run but feel into blissful unconscious while sweating at the mouth. "That was the effect of **Haoshoku Haki**. It is the power to use your will to dominate that of others, to send armies to their knees with only a single glance and to force your enemies to lose any spirit and desire to fight you."

"Aww." Usopp, Chopper and Nami, all make up the unofficial Cowardly Trio of the Straw Hats, said. They had hoped that they can use that to help make up their cowardly deposition. Only to be told that the only way to have this power is to be born with it.

"Hey. I can teach you all the first two forms. Haki is not entirely out of your reach." Luffy said, "Which reminds me. Weren't you all supposed to tell me what you learned over the last two years? Captain's orders."

The Straw Hats flinched a little until that tone of voice and that smirk on Luffy's mouth. "Right." Zoro then spoke, "Well I landed on Kuraigana Island, somewhere in Paradise. There, I fought against giant apes named Humandrills that copied the art of warfare so I was able to get some sparing out of them. But more importantly, Mihawk trained me there since he lived on that island." When everyone was going to respond to this development until the air had gotten heavy,

"Go ahead. Say all you want to Zoro. I dare you." Luffy said darkly and while Zoro was sweating a lot like everyone else, he still smiled.

"Thanks Luffy. Anyhow, I learned this **Kenbunshoku Haki** and **Busoshoku Haki** on the island. I also learned a lot of sword techniques that I never thought possible and I have learned a lot more advanced swordsmanship from him. I can take on ever the best in Paradise." Zoro said and with a proud tone.

"Nami, you're next." Luffy said softly and Nami nodded.

"I actually landed on a sky island, miles from Skypiea and the one we went to." Nami said to which all but Usopp were surprised. "There, I learned a lot about weather from the residents there. I know a lot about Grand Line weather. I can even use an invention they named the Weather Ball for combat. I also got my Prefect Clima-tact improved into my Sorcery Clima-tact. Not that your invention was that bad Usopp."

"I don't mind." Usopp said, "I am still not as good as Franky but you won't let him near what is yours right?" Nami glared at Franky, still on his case from how he 'modified' her wavier without permission and got the receiving end of her temper shortly after he first joined the crew.

"Right." She said with a tone dripped with malice at Franky who was really a sweat fest. "Anyways. I still no better with my polearm and I can't use any form of Haki yet. So…" Nami was going to rant on and on how 'weak' she was until Luffy stretched his limb to gently squeeze her shoulder.

"Nami, I told you and I told you all. Haki is something that anyone can learn. And everyone on this ship will be glad to help you Nami." Luffy said and the navigator managed to calm herself down and feel at least a little better.

"Thank you, Luffy." She said,

"Okay then. Usopp." Luffy went further up the list, the next being the sniper and resident liar.

"Well…Kuma sent me to one of the islands in the Boin Archipelago. To a forest named Greenstone that is also called the Forest of Gluttony. I had to find myself getting terribly fat as a result." Usopp said with his rarely honest tone. Everyone just tried their best not to laugh at the thought of it all. "I managed to not only shave off all that fat and gained some muscle like you Luffy." Usopp then got a little more cheery and Luffy gave an amused smile as a response. "The sole resident there taught me not only how to get physically stronger but also taught me how to use ammunition that he called Pop Greens. They are seeds that I can use for various purposes, not only combat."

"I will love to see some Usopp and make sure to make your own garden if they are ammunition and seeds." Luffy said and Usopp nodding, that was already on his mind. "Go on."

"Well, I don't know about **Busoshoku Haki** but I think that I am learning **Kenbunshoku Haki**. I usually see people as blue shadows that I can see even miles away." Usopp said and waited for Luffy's word and he got a smile as an answer.

"That sounds just like **Kenbunshoku Haki**. Looks like I get to help you master it. It will be fun." Luffy said and Usopp nodded. "Also, I need to teach a little martial arts for any day that you are out of ammo or overwhelmed to use your seeds."

"Okay and thanks Luffy."

"No problem. Sanji, you're up." Luffy shifted the attention to the cook who was just having another smoke.

"Where I landed was hell." Sanji said simply but when he saw that no one was taking that as a good answer, "Or more specifically, Momoiro Island where the Kamabakka Kingdom is found. I was taught martial arts by the ruler, Emporio Ivankov."

"Who is also a member of the Revolutionaries so he knew my father, Monkey D. Dragon." Luffy said, "I met him when I tried to help Ace out Impel Down. I am glad that he is okay."

No one wanted to hear Luffy out so Sanji went on. "Because the residents of that hellish island always chased me down, I have improved my leg strength. I can even walk in water and on air; I call them **'Blue Walk'** and **'Sky Walk'**."

"Don't know about this **Blue Walk** but it seems that you have unlocked **Geppo** **(Moon Walk)** from the **Rokushiki** Style in your **Sky Walk**. That saves me a lot of time if you wanted to learn more." Luffy said and Sanji nodded.

"Finally, I learned this strange style of cooking that Ivan called 'Attack Cooking'. He said that if one eats meals made from this style, they will be granted improvements and enhancements of any kind." Sanji said got the glare of his captain.

"I don't mind the **Attack Cooking**. I will love to try one of them out. But I will not tolerate you thinking about Nami and Robin while having a nosebleed, you pervert!" Luffy shouted and Sanji nodded with almost enough strength to tear his head off. "Sorry about that girls, I was out of place back there."

"We don't mind and thanks anyways Captain-san." Robin smiled and Nami couldn't say it but she nodded in agreement. "Now is it Doctor-san's turn?" Everyone turned to Chopper who stirred but calmed himself down a little.

"Yeah. I guess so and I did learn a lot. The island I was sent to was called Torino Kingdom, found somewhere in the South Blue. It was where the people was oppressed by giant birds. You should meet them, they dress in cave men clothes but use hi-tech spears! And their library of medicine is amazing!" Chopper wanted to say more but Luffy raised his hand.

"I am sure Chopper but we don't have all day. Cut to chase, what else did you learn?" Chopper nodded.

"Believe it or not Luffy, I can actually access my six points without the use of a Rumble Ball! I only need one to access my **Monster Point**. And get this, I can actually fully control myself in that form!" Luffy couldn't see and believe it but he decided not to consider Chopper a liar and went with it. "I haven't learned any of the three forms of Haki but you can teach me right?" Luffy nodded with a smile. "I also have an eighth form that I have unlocked! Watch this!"

Everyone was amazed to see this new form of Chopper. The form is average in size, being a head taller than the average person, with a squat body structure. His face and head become wider, and he has no visible neck. The upper lip on Chopper's mouth also become angular and points upward, and his facial expression appears to be transfixed. His arms and legs are short and very muscular. He retains his hooves and his antlers remain the same shape, but appear to be slightly smaller. **"Kung-Fu Point!"**

"Nice Chopper. If that will be all, it is Robin's turn." Luffy said and Chopper nodded, deflating because he wanted to show off more to his captain. He got a little peck-up, feeling Luffy rub his head like a little brother.

"Thank you Captain-san. I have been initially transported to Tequila Wolf. It was located somewhere in your home ocean, the East Blue. And I was a slave there." Robin could feel the anger, not only off of Sanji but Luffy as well. But unlike the cook, whose was more like an upset child, Luffy's anger was of a warrior after hearing news of injustice against his friends.

"But I was rescued. By the Revolutionaries who were sent by your father Captain-san." Luffy said nothing. "And under their protection, the World Government always failed to capture me. On the way, I learned how to magnify and expand on my Devil Fruit powers. Now I can create giant limbs and even complete clones. Observe." Robin then placed her hands in a cross-formation with her hands open, facing up; next to her came a sure replica of her, complete with her exact clothes.

"Very, very impressive Robin." Luffy said with a deep thought look in his eye and his right hand scratching his chin. "The only difference I can find is that this clone has no heartbeat." He said and Robin nodded. "Oh well, it is a way for me to tell apart. Thank you for telling us Robin."

"Sure thing Captain-san. And since I can't use Haki, I will be glad to learn it from you." And before Sanji could try to protest, both she and Luffy glared him to shut up.

"Okay then, we are almost done. Franky?" The shipwright took in a deep breath,

"Kuma sent me to Karakuri Island in the Grand Line, which was also the home place of Vegapunk and where his blueprints were to be found. Of course, I had to blow them up." Franky saw everyone looking at him with looks that shouted 'explain yourself'. "I didn't think that the button with a skull and crossbones didn't mean a pirate symbol but it was the self-destruct button!"

Luffy wasn't amused but he didn't say another word because he sensed that Chopper made a similar mistake to think a skull and crossbones meant something else other than death. "Go on and don't leave anything out."

"Right. I did survive but the explosion had burned off the skin on my front and I did find another store of blueprints Vegapunk made. Since it was isolated, I set of shop there and repaired myself until you see the…"

"I don't want to hear it." Luffy said suddenly and the cold wind of rejection blew around Franky.

"A-anyways, there was nothing to teach me about this Haki so I will like to hear about it!" Franky then tried to make up his broken pride.

"Sanji will teach you, unless he didn't behave himself around everyone besides the women." Luffy said and with a mischievous look on his face that Zoro, Usopp and Chopper mirrored. Sanji sure did abuse them for their 'mistreatment' of women that happened to know. "Now Brook, you are the only one left."

"Of course sir!" Brook shouted out, "I was sent to the Namakura Island, in the middle of the kingdom of Harahettania. They believed my arrival to be of Satan answering their call against the Longarm tribe, which had been terrorizing them. I had to be captured by them in the end! Yo ho ho ho!" When no was laughing, Brook continued. "And those Longarm people tried to pass me off as a circus freak but I endured and I became a rock star in just two years. I also learned and mastered a greater extent of my Devil Fruit then I have in the fifty years I spent before meeting you. Watch!"

Brook's skeleton body then collapsed and out of the mouth came some kind of green gas that soon got a face that was somewhat like Brook's face. "Behold! I am a loose spirit that is the result of the true power to the **Yomi-Yomi no Mi (Revive-Revive Fruit)**!"

"Nice Brook, now stop scaring my crew!" Luffy shouted and Brook's spirit went back into the skeleton in rock star clothing. "Now what else?"

"I have another power from the Yomi-Yomi no Mi that I can use with my fencing sword. It call it…" Brook took his signature cane and pulled out the blade that suddenly got engulfed in a substance that made the crew feel some kind of chill. " **Soul Solid!** With these winds of the underworld, everything I slice will be frozen as well!"

"I can see Brook. And if you so desire to learn about Haki, I will be glad to also teach you." Luffy said until Usopp had a good question.

"Why are you bent on teaching all of us about Haki Luffy?" He asked, "Not to be rude or ungrateful but we survived the East Blue and the Grand Line without Haki…" Luffy then stared very hardly at Usopp.

"The East Blue and Paradise are not the New World. They are not even close to comparison with the final half of the Grand Line. In the East Blue, no one knows about Haki. In Paradise, Haki can get you across faster than without. In the New World, Haki is a necessary to survive. Understand?" Luffy said all in one breathe. "I won't repeat myself so you better remember this."

XXXXX

Silence was the only thing heard among the moving water and the various sea creatures that swam past them in it. This was heavy on their hearts. They all had no idea that they were trying to enter the New World without realizing that they must have Haki to survive and make it through.

"Well. It is supper time and you don't have to worry about cooking Sanji, my friends from the Kuja tribe already given me enough food for at least for the nine of us." Luffy then said in a cherry tone that got everyone to realize how hungry they are.

"I still can't believe that Kuma had to send someone as idiotic as you to the one place that all men call Paradise! Why was I trapped in hell!?" Sanji lamented through his meals which annoyed everyone, especially Luffy.

"It if for your own good because unlike you, I didn't want to be killed by the Kuja because their law was that they were to kill all men they see. I thought that Kuma sent me there to die." Luffy said while setting the table with numerous lunchboxes and the backpack was slightly smaller and lighter.

And while everyone was enjoying the food, Luffy had one last thing to say. "But Kuma didn't. He save my life. He saved all of our lives. We own him."

"But wasn't Kuma the one who defeated us!?" Sanji shouted to obviously cover his displeasure of being sent to 'hell'.

"Think back Sanji. All of you too. If Kuma never showed up, would we have survived three days? Escaped to Fishman Island? Lost the marines, the Pacifista that was after us!?" Luffy retorted and no one had a good answer. "I didn't think so. And not to brag but when I was up against PX-5 from two years ago, it only took a few seconds to bring it down and destroy it. And PX-7, also from two years ago, was destroyed by only a single attack from both Sanji and Zoro. Remember how it took all of us to barely bring down PX-5?"

Everyone did remember, they were fighting a losing battle with a fresh Pacifista and Vegapunk's bodyguard in the mix after nearly losing their lives to a single Pacifista robot. "That was why Kuma separated us. So we can be safe and hidden from the marines and given two years to train in Paradise until we were strong enough to get away much easier; and now we have a chance to make it through Fishman Island and into the New World."

Franky then added his own two cents to the conversation, saying that Kuma was also a Pacifista himself as he was the inspiration for the appearance of the robots. And that Vegapunk gave Kuma one last mission before the warlord lost his humanity and became a mindless robot' to guard the Thousand Sunny until the Straw Hats come back which took two years. But Kuma only did half of the time since the first half was done by other allies.

The entire Flying Fish pirates guarded the ship with the help of Hachan of the Fishmen race. But after a year, they became too injured to keep up the job so Kuma took over. Franky then met up with Kuma who was covered in damage, scars and had a few swords sticking out of his body. After saying the words, 'Mission Accomplished', he disappeared; and the Thousand Sunny didn't even have a scratch, no matter how hard Franky looked over his masterpiece.

But as the Straw Hats took all this in, their dinner was interrupted by party crashers. And they came with a Sea King pulling their ship into the Thousand Sunny. "There they are! Get them!" The Straw Hats braced for a fight by the pirate crew that dared attack them.

"Hello Mohmoo, it has been a while." Luffy ignored the enemy pirates and focused on the steed.

Mohmoo is a giant sea cow. It has a big round nose with a gold nose ring, cow-esque face and horns, green spots throughout its body, and also, due to its seal-like structure, an ability to swim easily. And when it looked at Luffy, bad memories came which got him to sweat.

"Relax, I won't hurt you again unless you attack first." Luffy said and yet Mohmoo didn't look any different while not budging from his spot. **"Rankyaku: Sekirite (Storm Leg: Cutter of Currents) (1)!"**

Luffy kicked one once but caused various slices on the ropes holding Mohmoo and the bubble covering the ship of the attacking crew. Once that was done, there was only a freed Mohmoo and two pirates on Luffy's ship. And he approached them while they were in shock and horror; they just lost their ship, their stead and their crew to Luffy's single technique.

"You were the ones that sighed up with the bastards, imposing as us and slinging mud on our name. 'Wet-Haired' Caribou of the Caribou Pirates." Caribou is a tall man with dark skin and dark hair reaching down to his shoulders, a distinctive wet-looking tuft giving him his epithet, and a beard in the shape of a whirl going upwards on his chin. He has intimidating eyes with many circles around the pupils (with dark and medium green central heterochromia in the anime), pointed ears, and long limbs. He has a long tongue which is often seen sticking out.

He wears a coat which appears to be made of fur, dark on the outside and lighter and spotted on the inside (similar to a leopard's), draped over his shoulders like a cape, dark pants and shoes, and an extremely long-sleeved shirt with a Cross Fleury-like design on the chest. With the way he wears his shirt, concealing his arms under his long sleeves, it resembles an unbuckled straitjacket.

"And that is your brother, 'Blood Splatter' Coribou." Coribou is a very large, rotund, egg-shaped man, towering over his brother as well as the rest of their crew. His legs are rather skinny and thin in comparison to the rest of his body. He has dark lips and circles around his eyes, and on his head is what appears to be a type of lizard that acts as his "hair", with the tail acting as a tuft, covering the right part of his face.

He dons dark pants and shoes, and a lighter shirt with blood splatters on some parts near and on his neck (hence his nickname), with loose sleeves and ruffled edges, and what appears to be a Cross Fleury on the chest.

"Am I wrong?" Luffy asked with a smirk on his face while the two pirates could only nod in shook. "Pity that I can't just capture you and turn you in. After all, 400 million Berries with the both of you together is something hard to pass up on." Luffy said with a scary tone and an even scarier shade on his face that scared the two brother pirates. They just ignored Nami's nodding and the Berri signs in her eyes; proof that her notorious greed was still present in her character.

"Bah! None one is worth that much on their own unless you lied to the marines! Die!" Coribou suddenly said and took out his Gatling gun while not listening to his older brother's protests.

'So my bounty has changed since I survived the War of the Best. It doesn't help that I never seen a newspaper in the two years that I was training.' Luffy thought to himself until he saw the bullets from the Gatling gun heading his way; his crew had a feeling it was best to leave their captain to deal with his own business. 'But they are no worth to be serious on.' Luffy scowled at the pathetic attempt to kill him; his Devil Fruit powers will just render these bullets useless. **"Tekkai (Iron Body)."**

As soon as he said those words, the bullets were crushed once they hit Luffy's harden body and feel to the deck, worthless and useless to anyone now. "Thank you for the show." Luffy said sarcastically, a way that no one thought he talk in. "Now scram!" Luffy shouted and sent Coribou into the ocean with only a swat of his arm, to show how strong he was.

"And as for you…" Luffy turned to Caribou who hadn't moved from that spot, even to help his own brother. Later, Caribou was tied up hard with spare rope around his chest. "I should just throw you overboard but a gut feeling is telling me that you will be useful some time in the future. So I will just let you live for now."

"You do that and I will just kill you all, and with those bitches as my next toys!" Caribou foolishly shouted out in that act of mercy. No one said another word as even Sanji, in all his anger, couldn't match Luffy's once again. Once Luffy was done, Caribou was looking worse to wear while the enraged captain stuffed him into a barrel. "Hey! You can't do this!"

"It is for your own good because I just said I won't kill you, even after you insulted my crewmates and threatened Nami and Robin!" Luffy then sealed the barrel with a huff and ordered Franky to get it as tight and secure as the shipwright could manage. When asked why, they got a glare and this. "It is the marine's job to underestimate us so don't you dare do it yourselves. You will just get killed. That guy was acting stupid and helpless because he ate the **Yomi-Yomi no Mi (Swamp-Swamp Fruit)**."

Everyone gasped. The **Yomi-Yomi no Mi** is a Logia type Devil Fruit that transforms the user into a virtual, living and bottomless swamp that he can suffocate, store and swallow any known substance. And, as it involves swamp matter, the user can fit through all except the smallest of spaces and cracks so he can't get out of the barrel just of yet. But while that problem was settled, with the barrel being sent into the storage room for safekeeping, another problem arose when they reached the bottom of the next stage on their journey to Fishman Island.

It was a current that looked like a black, endless waterfall within the ocean that will take the Thousand Sunny another two thousand feet. But when the Straw Hats reached the seafloor down below, there was something awaiting them. "It's the monster from the North Pole everyone. The Kraken!" Luffy proclaimed. But when his crew was about to panic, "Listen. I have got a way to take advantage of this encounter, one that will get us to Fishman Island a lot faster."

At the look of that smile, no one tried to protest and only braced for anything crazy, which is what Luffy is capable of thinking. But this one really takes the cake; they were going to tame the Kraken!

XXXXX

"Okay. Me, Zoro and Sanji are all set." Luffy said as the trio got their bubble suits all geared up to fight the Kraken. "You all protect the Thousand Sunny since the Kraken is still going to try and sink our ship." Everyone nodded and as the trio ignored the warnings about the rope and got a good distance from the ship and towards the Kraken, the giant creature swung one of its tentacles at the Thousand Sunny, just like what Luffy said!

" **Franky…Rocket Launcher!"** That was to be heard when that tentacle was deflected away by apparently a couple of rockets from one of Franky's oversized shoulder joints. While Usopp and Chopper were shocked with awe, everyone saw that Luffy was only feeling interested in this.

"I knew that Franky had plenty of surprises. But we still need to deal with the Kraken!" Luffy shouted when the gigantic beast sent another one of his tentacles to the Thousand Sunny!

" **Guard Boost!"** They heard Chopper's voice and saw that Chopper's Guard Point actually much bigger than two years ago.

"I guess that Chopper never mentioned that he can use his Rumble Balls to enhance his many forms, rather just unlocking his Monster Point." Luffy said and his first mate and cook all nodded. Then they saw a pair of giant hands and arms emerging from the side of the Thousand Sunny facing the undersea mountain side it was about to crash into.

" **Mil Fleur: Gigantesco Mano (Thousand Flower: Gigantic Tree)!"** They heard Robin's voice and the massive arms were able to stop the ship from crashing and actually pushed it back a good distance. Too bad the sea water had to force Robin to cancel her technique suddenly.

"Alright. They are doing their job so let's do ours already." Luffy then turned to Zoro and Sanji. "Once I begun to ready my technique to knock out the Kraken, make sure I am not interrupted. The sea is going to make this too long with the Kraken seeing what I am going to do." They both nodded and watched as Luffy did the same stance for his Gear Third; blowing air into one of his arms which didn't stay in that arm and instead makes its way to the other that stretches out of the bubble suit. "Ugh. **Hone Fusen (Bone Balloon)**." Luffy struggled under the effects of the sea water. It is a curse that cannot be cured in his life time. **"Busoshoku: Koka (Armament: Hardening)."**

While everyone marveled at how Luffy's new and improved giant hand had turned black like before, it looked like Kraken saw the new threat and switched targets. 'So it is going after Luffy, just like what he said. I can't help but get pissed that the beast can stomp to be so low and that the idiot is actually getting smart.'

Sanji thought all that to himself until he surprised everyone by swiftly leaving his bubble and was kicking his way toward the Kraken! Ignoring everyone's comments, Sanji focused on the beast. 'An ugly monster? Ha! Compared to the monsters that I had to run from for two years, it is nothing. In fact, it is adorable to my eyes.'

And when Sanji got close enough with the help of his **'Blue Walk'** , a version of **Geppo** that involves travel through thick sea water, he attacked. **"Diable Jambe (Devil's Leg)!"** Sanji used a deadly technique he came up with during his fight against the CP9 two years ago that caused his foot to be heated and add the burning effect of flames to his kick. **"Bien Cuit (Well Cooked): Grill Shot!"**

The Kraken roared in pain and saw that one of his tentacles was cooked while underwater and seemed to have left a crisscrossed grill shaped burn right on the spot. Sanji realized that he needed to use **Blue Walk** back to his bubble suit but he couldn't stop another tentacle from ambushing him until,

" **Santoryu Ogi: Rokudo no Tsuji (Three Swords Style Secret Technique: Crossing of Six Paths)!"** Zoro said with his three swords in place, muttering to himself about how even two years under Mihawk still didn't get him as strong as necessary to complete his dream.

"Wait! Dammit!" Sanji cursed and pointed to a stray tentacle that they overlooked and it was heading for Luffy! And even with Sanji's **Blue Walk** , it looked like it was going to hit it target. Until of course,

"I have to do this job myself I swear. Luckily I had time on my hands to come up for something original." Luffy said calmly, oblivious knowing of what is coming his way. "Watch and learn. I know that another hole isn't going to be a problem." When that tentacle was only inches away, **"Juujika (Crossfire) (2)."**

Luffy's available arm suddenly shot and stabbed the tentacle head on while stretching to push it away from the bubble. And to everyone, including the Kraken, it all happened the instant Luffy spoke that strange name. "A bullet is not needed to pierce the human body but our fingers can't go the distance a bullet can go from the barrel of the gun. But **Juujika** can, with the power of instant movement from **Soru (Shave)**."

Everyone couldn't believe it. Luffy, their captain, actually created a technique that took advantage of his ability to stretch and to deadly extents. He could level an entire army with this move alone. "Now, to finish this once and for all! **Gum-Gum…** " Indeed, it was now or never as the Kraken is feeling paralyzed from that last counter-attack. **"Elephant Gun!"**

The Kraken didn't stand a chance. A monster that was many times bigger than the Thousand Sunny and possibly heavier than a mountain fell to that devastating technique. Everyone spoke their shock and disbelief that turned to awe. But then Chopper noticed something about the Kraken as it sank into blissful unconsciousness. "Look! A shark!'

Indeed, what came out of the Kraken, through a tube of sorts, was a black shark, with a white underbelly. It has the body shape of usual sharks, the only difference is that it was wearing a red shirt that covered most of his body. On closer inspection, it seems to be several times larger than an average shark, approximately the same size as the Thousand Sunny.

"What kind of shark wears a shirt?" Zoro asked while Luffy and Sanji shrugged. They weren't making any assumptions here in the Grand Line anymore. And when that shark came only nod and say something, Luffy laughed.

"Why, how politely and it was no problem. Just don't get into more trouble." Luffy said and the shark acted like it could understand him. Looks like **Kenbunshoku Haki** does help understand animals and other sentient creatures. "So can you tell us where to get to Fishman Island? We only know to get to ten thousand meters deep but that's just it." Luffy then asked of the shark and the shark nodded.

But when that same shark went below, where the Kraken fell, there was this strong current that came out of nowhere. And it sucked the trio in their bubble suits but also the Thousand Sunny itself! "LUFFY!" Everyone, in this dreadful development, took to their captain for help. But Luffy couldn't help them and got separated from his crew; just like two years ago at the Sabaody Archipelago.

End of Chapter 4.

 ***Now this was a long chapter compared to the others already! I hope it is still good and thanks for the support!***

 **1\. Don't try to look it up because I came up with this move for the benefit of this chapter.**

 **2\. I noticed that Rob Lucci had come up with Kamisori or Razor by combining Geppo with Soru. I thought of combining Soru with Shigan and it was hard to find a Japanese name for something related to the name of Finger Pistol. Hope it isn't a problem or a bad name.**


	5. The Flying Dutchman

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

"One Piece" – Speaking

'One Piece' – Thoughts

 _One Piece_ – Flashbacks

 **One Piece** – Techniques

A Large Leap

The Flying Dutchman

 _Previously on A Large Leap,_

" _Okay. Me, Zoro and Sanji are all set." Luffy said as the trio got their bubble suits all geared up to fight the Kraken. "You all protect the Thousand Sunny since the Kraken is still going to try and sink our ship." Everyone nodded and as the trio ignored the warnings about the rope and got a good distance from the ship and towards the Kraken, the giant creature swung one of its tentacles at the Thousand Sunny, just like what Luffy said!_

" _ **Franky…Rocket Launcher!"**_ _That was to be heard when that tentacle was deflected away by apparently a couple of rockets from one of Franky's oversized shoulder joints. While Usopp and Chopper were shocked with awe, everyone saw that Luffy was only feeling interested in this._

 _"I knew that Franky had plenty of surprises. But we still need to deal with the Kraken!" Luffy shouted when the gigantic beast sent another one of his tentacles to the Thousand Sunny!_

" _ **Guard Boost!"**_ _They heard Chopper's voice and saw that Chopper's Guard Point actually much bigger than two years ago._

" _I guess that Chopper never mentioned that he can use his Rumble Balls to enhance his many forms, rather just unlocking his Monster Point." Luffy said and his first mate and cook all nodded. Then they saw a pair of giant hands and arms emerging from the side of the Thousand Sunny facing the undersea mountain side it was about to crash into._

" _ **Mil Fleur: Gigantesco Mano (Thousand Flower: Gigantic Tree)!"**_ _They heard Robin's voice and the massive arms were able to stop the ship from crashing and actually pushed it back a good distance. Too bad the sea water had to force Robin to cancel her technique suddenly._

" _Alright. They are doing their job so let's do ours already." Luffy then turned to Zoro and Sanji. "Once I begun to ready my technique to knock out the Kraken, make sure I am not interrupted. The sea is going to make this too long with the Kraken seeing what I am going to do." They both nodded and watched as Luffy did the same stance for his Gear Third; blowing air into one of his arms which didn't stay in that arm and instead makes its way to the other that stretches out of the bubble suit. "Ugh._ _ **Hone Fusen (Bone Balloon)**_ _." Luffy struggled under the effects of the sea water. It is a curse that cannot be cured in his life time._ _ **"Busoshoku: Koka (Armament: Hardening)."**_

 _While everyone marveled at how Luffy's new and improved giant hand had turned black like before, it looked like Kraken saw the new threat and switched targets. 'So it is going after Luffy, just like what he said. I can't help but get pissed that the beast can stomp to be so low and that the idiot is actually getting smart.'_

 _Sanji thought all that to himself until he surprised everyone by swiftly leaving his bubble and was kicking his way toward the Kraken! Ignoring everyone's comments, Sanji focused on the beast. 'An ugly monster? Ha! Compared to the monsters that I had to run from for two years, it is nothing. In fact, it is adorable to my eyes.'_

 _And when Sanji got close enough with the help of his_ _ **'Blue Walk'**_ _, a version of Geppo that involves travel through thick sea water, he attacked._ _ **"Diable Jambe (Devil's Leg)!"**_ _Sanji used a deadly technique he came up with during his fight against the CP9 two years ago that caused his foot to be heated and add the burning effect of flames to his kick._ _ **"Bien Cuit (Well Cooked): Grill Shot!"**_

 _The Kraken roared in pain and saw that one of his tentacles was cooked while underwater and seemed to have left a crisscrossed grill shaped burn right on the spot. Sanji realized that he needed to use_ _ **Blue Walk**_ _back to his bubble suit but he couldn't stop another tentacle from ambushing him until,_

" _ **Santoryu Ogi: Rokudo no Tsuji (Three Swords Style Secret Technique: Crossing of Six Paths)!"**_ _Zoro said with his three swords in place, muttering to himself about how even two years under Mihawk still didn't get him as strong as necessary to complete his dream._

" _Wait! Dammit!" Sanji cursed and pointed to a stray tentacle that they overlooked and it was heading for Luffy! And even with Sanji's_ _ **Blue Walk**_ _, it looked like it was going to hit it target. Until of course,_

" _I have to do this job myself I swear. Luckily I had time on my hands to come up for something original." Luffy said calmly, oblivious knowing of what is coming his way. "Watch and learn. I know that another hole isn't going to be a problem." When that tentacle was only inches away,_ _ **"Juujika (Crossfire) (2)."**_

 _Luffy's available arm suddenly shot and stabbed the tentacle head on while stretching to push it away from the bubble. And to everyone, including the Kraken, it all happened the instant Luffy spoke that strange name. "A bullet is not needed to pierce the human body but our fingers can't go the distance a bullet can go from the barrel of the gun. But Juujika can, with the power of instant movement from_ _ **Soru (Shave)**_ _."_

 _Everyone couldn't believe it. Luffy, their captain, actually created a technique that took advantage of his ability to stretch and to deadly extents. He could level an entire army with this move alone. "Now, to finish this once and for all!_ _ **Gum-Gum…**_ _" Indeed, it was now or never as the Kraken is feeling paralyzed from that last counter-attack._ _ **"Elephant Gun!"**_

 _The Kraken didn't stand a chance. A monster that was many times bigger than the Thousand Sunny and possibly heavier than a mountain fell to that devastating technique. Everyone spoke their shock and disbelief that turned to awe. But then Chopper noticed something about the Kraken as it sank into blissful unconsciousness. "Look! A shark!'_

 _Indeed, what came out of the Kraken, through a tube of sorts, was a black shark, with a white underbelly. It has the body shape of usual sharks, the only difference is that it was wearing a red shirt that covered most of his body. On closer inspection, it seems to be several times larger than an average shark, approximately the same size as the Thousand Sunny._

" _What kind of shark wears a shirt?" Zoro asked while Luffy and Sanji shrugged. They weren't making any assumptions here in the Grand Line anymore. And when that shark came only nod and say something, Luffy laughed._

" _Why, how politely and it was no problem. Just don't get into more trouble." Luffy said and the shark acted like it could understand him. Looks like_ _ **Kenbunshoku Haki**_ _does help understand animals and other sentient creatures. "So can you tell us where to get to Fishman Island? We only know to get to ten thousand meters deep but that's just it." Luffy then asked of the shark and the shark nodded._

 _But when that same shark went below, where the Kraken fell, there was this strong current that came out of nowhere. And it sucked the trio in their bubble suits but also the Thousand Sunny itself! "LUFFY!" Everyone, in this dreadful development, took to their captain for help. But Luffy couldn't help them and got separated from his crew; just like two years ago at the Sabaody Archipelago._

"Luffy!"

Then Strawhats cheered from the darkness they found themselves in once they were caught in that gigantic, nigh irresistible sea current as soon as the Kraken was defeated. And speaking of which, the Kraken seemed to be tamed and just saved the Thousand Sunny from a giant creature that was followed by a creepy ship, the Flying Dutchman.

"Ha-ha-ha! There is nothing to it!" Luffy yelled as both Usopp and Chopper embraced him; despite Usopp being the same age, the duo can be considered to be Luffy's little brothers. But there was just something about this little 'welcome back' that made everyone a little shocked. "Now can you please give me some air Nami?"

When the navigator realized what she was doing, Nami grew as red as a tomato and made a peep so low that only Luffy heard it. But instead of backing off in a flash or hitting Luffy while screaming, Nami just got a little more comfortable. All the while, rubbing her cheek on Luffy's well-built torso and chest. And she did this with a stubborn look on her face that dignified her as getting a treasure while getting dirty to do so.

But the moment was interrupted, "Wadatsumi! Get up! Destroy that ship!" Up in the distance and near the Thousand Sunny was a galleon that looked like it was through a storm and ended up sailing under the depths instead of above; the sail said 'Flying Dutchman'. And on that ship was the captain by the authority in words and tone but with his cloak covering most of his body, it was nigh impossible to make anything out of his overall appearance.

As for what he was yelling at, it was a giant of a fishman that tried to collapse the Thousand Sunny and was intercepted and defeated by the tamed Kraken, that Luffy mockingly called 'Surume' (which means dried squid). After all, the Kraken still tried to kill them and destroy their ship.

The creature named Wadatsumi is an enormous fishman, equal in size to the head of the kraken, Surume. He is large enough to make the giant-sized Shirahoshi and Megalo look like a regular-sized shark and mermaid. His round head and chest are quite big in comparison to his arms and legs. His hands are webbed. He has a big, round face, with a large mouth full of massive, round teeth quite distant from one another, and child-like eyes. He has some stubble on his chin and dark hair surrounding his head, taking the shape of a protrusion pointing upward at the top, which also covers a part of his shoulders. His whole body is also quite hairy.

He apparently wears a pair of extremely loose pants paired with a dark indument tied around his waist, and has been seen walking barefoot. His overall shape, size, and eyes strongly resemble that of Sanjuan Wolf's who appeared at the War of the Best two years ago. Due to his appearance, Wadatsumi was incorrectly called an Umibozu (the sea bonze spirit from Japanese legend) by Usopp.

And as for his pet angler fish that hovering nearby, named Ankoro by the Wadatsumi, is a giant grey-brown angler fish, with tiny white eyes, veiny fins, and a huge yellow light on the tip of its antennae.

But while everyone ignored the futile attempts to get the giant back up, there was another danger coming; one that both parties will not win against. And that was when Luffy noticed something before everyone else. "Guys." Luffy said. "The temperature is rising, even more than when we reached the bottom of the deep sea current. And with the rumbling of the seabed, that could only mean one thing."

While most were confused while some were a tad worried, Nami was as pale as a ghost. "No. No it can't be, Luffy-kun!" Nami caught herself for addressing her captain with that level of affection. But any doubt was assured when Luffy wisely ignored it and instead brought her close.

"I know Nami. We will have to run, run as fast we can." Luffy said while not even batting an eye from the same direction as before. Until he turned his head, "Surume! We need to run to a crevice going down! Now!"

Before anyone could argue why, there was a deafening explosion. Looking towards the direction Luffy was just facing, they saw something of a volcanic eruption but underwater. "Hurry!" Luffy shouted and finally, Surume did run.

"Men! Retreat!" On board the Flying Dutchman, the captain shouted to his crew who never argued or protested against a wise action. And by this time, Wadatsumi finally woke up and saw the upcoming danger. "Wadatsumi, pull the ship away!"

"Yes sir!" The giant said in a childish tone as he grabbed hold of his pet and then a chain of a lasso that was connected to the Flying Dutchman; now all this giant had to do was run. But he wasn't the only thing running, the Kraken was hurrying along in a rather awkward way to run with his tentacles.

"Hurry Surume! The lava isn't slowing down!" Luffy shouted and when everyone else turned around to verify, they were scared out of their wits to see that the eruption not far behind had caused an undersea flow of lava that was heating up the water. Thankfully for the Straw Hats, Surume was actually able to gain a boost in speed which couldn't be said for the Flying Dutchman.

Soon enough, they saw the ship and the gigantic pair pulling to be flung into a high attitude from the sea floor. "There! Is that it!?" Usopp shouted out this time and everyone saw a deep crevice that could be their only chance to evade the lava flow.

"Nami!? The log pose!" Luffy turned to the navigator who looked for a second, which was just about the time she had. She nodded so fast, she nearly tore her own head off. "Okay! Surume! Jump off in there! Now!"

Surume did just that and yet, just when they were going to lose the lava flow, now the danger is a rocky avalanche. One that was caused when the lava weaken the cliff's hold on the loose boulders. Instead of being boiled worse than an egg, the Straw Hats are on the verge of being buried in rubble.

"Luffy, hold onto me. I will cut all those boulders up." Zoro said and when everyone was going to protest, Luffy grabbed his ankle anyways.

"Of course..." Then Luffy, with a creepy smile, pulled Zoro to the deck, "Not!" Luffy then pressed Zoro's face into the deck. "We are more than five thousand meters below the surface! All that pressure out there will kill you! Robin!"

"Yes Captain Luffy." The older woman smiled and used her powers to sprout hands that anchored Zoro to the deck. "But what about the avalanche?"

"I can't stop it, Zoro can't and you can't. But…" Luffy said and before everyone was going to ask,

 **"Hissatsu; Midori Boshi: Sargasso (Special Attack; Green Star: Sargasso)!"** Usopp spoke up, using his Kuro Kabuto (Black Kabuto) to launch one of his 'Pop Greens' high where the avalanche was coming down. When the seeds hit the crevice walls at the certain angle, a gigantic mass of seaweed emerged in an instant.

"But that will! Good work on your fast thinking Usopp!" Luffy said, leaving Zoro still attached to the ground by an ever crossed Robin, to pat his 'little brother' on the back. "Surume! We got a few more seconds, get out of the way of the avalanche!"

The Kraken then saw the bed of seaweed and took the chance to swim out of range of the avalanche. And when the few seconds of holding were up, the boulders and gigantic rubble had completely missed the Kraken and the Thousand Sunny, with the Strawhats on.

"HEY!" Of course, everyone's joy was cut short when a stray boulder had actually hit Surume on the back of the head, knocking him out. And they all sank deeper into the darkness of the crevice.

XXXXX

"Is it morning already?"

"Huh?" When Usopp muttered that comment, the crew were confused. They must be more like eight thousand meters below the surface. How can it be morning? But the intense light that was almost blinding.

"How can that be!?" Nami screamed, she hated to be unsure of something. It seems that the Grand Line still scares her. But Luffy had somehow calmed her down with a light squeeze of the shoulder.

"I am certain that there is an explanation for this Nami, we just need to find the right person." Luffy said and Nami nodded, she liked that idea. But did she liked the one who shared it since she was blushing ever since Luffy got into a comforting contact with her?

"Captain. I think we are here!" Robin then said as her sunglasses helped her the best with this bright light; as such, she was the first to get a look around. "There!" Everyone soon got their eyes adjusted so they could look into the same direction as Robin.

What they saw was something of a dream. An entire island that was hovering slightly above the sea floor but in a bubble that was bigger than any other back on the Sabaody Archipelago. There was also a significantly smaller bubble that was directly above the main one and it seemed to have a palace of some sorts.

"Yes!" Luffy shouted. "That has to be Fishman Island! The last island before arriving in the New World! We are here!" This caused his crew to cheer and shout out what they expect out of Fishman Island; Sanji's desire to see the Mermaids is a good example.

"Well, look who is here." That voice was no human's and it reminded the first half of the crew of a certain species that just rub them the wrong way. And this caused Surume to flee in fear for some reason; quite contrary of a creature that is feared even by the most deadly of beings above the surface and one that just took down a giant that rivaled undersea mountains in size. It could because of the sea kings that were being used as steads.

Hammond is a slim-looking bright yellow skinned fishman with medium-length, puffy orange hair and a long and squarish neck with a small beard. His facial features are quite sinister: they include a long and sharp beak-like muzzle, razor-like teeth, and dark, glaring eyes. On his neck he has the tattoo of the Arlong Pirates symbol near his left shoulder, in honor of Arlong and his ideals. He also wears a strange tattoo on the right side of his torso.

Hammond wears a long sleeved black coat with a striped undershirt, both of which he keeps open to display his tattoos. Hammond wears shin-high, frayed white pants with a mint-green sash and black sandals. On his head he has a black fedora and earrings on both ears.

By his side seems to be an associate named Kasagoba.

He is a stocky, beige fishman with brown spots on his thick neck. He has pink trailings with yellow on the tips on his head and neck. He also appears to wear a white tank top and vertically striped pants. He also has a very large grin.

Then there was Hyouzou on the other side of Hammond.

Being an octopus merman, Hyouzou has six massive orange octopus tentacles in place of legs with large motifs vaguely reminiscent of eyes on them, making eight limbs with his two arms. He has a standard, slim pink upper body and two human arms. He has unkept, black medium-length shaggy hair. He's usually seen with a sleepy look on his face and an unusually large mouth that protrudes out from his face.

He seems has a toothpick in his mouth, wears a blue unbuttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up, an untied tie hanging around his neck over his chest, and a jacket which is draped over his shoulders like a cape. His left arm is usually pulled through from his shirt and is seen holding a katana that lacks a guard and is kept in a sheath covered in elongated spot motifs. Hyouzou also carries around a gourd that he often drinks his alcohol from.

Luffy scowled at the sight of a tattoo that the three all seem to share but also the one that Hammond has as well. It was based on the face of a saw-toothed shark and not just any saw-toothed shark but a fishman that was born with the features of one. One that also made Nami cover behind Luffy as the sight gave her bad memories.

"Just who are you and why do you have the symbol of the Arlong Pirates!? I never seen you at Arlong Park two years ago!" Luffy shouted and the crew gasped. Zoro, Sanji and Usopp secured themselves for a fight; just like back in the East Blue, before Loguetown and the Reverse Mountain. The rest of the crew finally get to see the symbol that they heard from the crewmembers that started in the East Blue.

"You're right I wasn't there. And neither were my friends here." Hammond said. "But you just admitted to have defeated and humiliated the honorable Arlong and stopped him from completing his noble goal! I am Hammond of Fishman District! Fear me!"

"I never heard of the Fishman District so why should I?" Luffy said, with a very good point. "And you dare call Arlong noble after what he did in the East Blue and more importantly, to Nami for eight years? You will disappointed and you will regret those words you dare speak in front of my navigator!" Luffy retorted in which Nami felt a little safer and more at ease; to have a hunk fight her here and for real this time, unlike the perverted nonsense that comes from either Sanji or Brook.

"And just how are you going to do that? You're ship is about to run out of air and you don't even have the backstabbing Kraken by your side. What do you have?" Hammond asked with a grin before seeing that Luffy had one too for one thing.

"This." Luffy fixed his glace at the sea kings and they all instantly fainted, falling down to the sea floor. "And a plan." Luffy then stuck out his pointer finger, steeling the smaller muscles and reeling his arm. 'Franky, go get every drop of cola into the engine. We need to make the strongest **Coup de Burst** we can make at this point.'

Franky nodded, not wanting to reveal Luffy's makeshift telepathy abilities. He hurried down to where the engine that generates the **Coup de Burst** technique. Meanwhile, **"Juujika (Crossfire): Faibusuta-Dageki (Five-Star Strike)!"** Luffy used the same combo of **Rokushiki (Six Powers)** forms that he used raw on the Kraken but now as a real technique. But his crew were wondering why not a single one of the supersonic stabs hit any of the fishmen or their steads.

"You think that knocking out our steads is going to scare us like that technique you have poor aim of!? We can still kill you and bring you to our boss!" Hammond shouted out until the seabed they were lying on started to shake. "What the hell…?" Suddenly a giant vet of boiling water erupted.

"Even those who can breathe in the water have to fear the underwater vents." Luffy said and once again surprised his crew by actually doing something smart and inventive for once. 'Franky! Now!' Luffy reached for his shipwright who just emptied out the last barrel of cola, scattering every other one in a desperate search for them all; it wasn't like there wasn't even a minutes chance to do so.

'Right Strawhat.' Franky then closed the engine and hurried to the steering wheel, the only thing on the ship to activate the engine. **"Coup De Burst!"** Using the boiling water as both a cover and a distraction, the Thousand Sunny was able to lose the Fishmen before they could even try to stop them.

But as they used what little power and air left in the bubble, the Strawhats was pressed into the deck. 'Everyone! You will need to swim once the bubble burst! Grab everyone else!' Luffy was able to send that to his entire crew who grabbed on him and all other devil fruit users; as they are cursed to never be able to swim for the rest of their lives.

"Good luck and we will make it through!"

"Aye aye!" That cheer from his beloved crew was the last thing Luffy heard before he and everyone was submerged in water. Luffy, being one of the cursed devil fruit users, instantly blacked out.

XXXXX

When Luffy finally felt strength after a good rest and some air was seeping into his lungs again, he opened his eyes to a curious sight. There were five little ones that were definitely merfolk as they all had fish tails going from their waist down. But it was their speech that amused Luffy,

"Luffy is breathing."

"Luffy is breathing!"

"Luffy is not breathing!"

"Luffy might be breathing!"

"So what Luffy is breathing?"

Luffy still felt some water in his throat so he coughed them out, effectively startling and scaring them. "Sorry about that." Luffy said without actually facing them and was more focused on getting up from his bed. Which was a little hard when he felt familiar individuals that crashed into him.

"Luffy!"

"You made it!"

Luffy could only smile at both Usopp and Chopper crashing into him in a brotherly fashion for the second time. He also saw Sanji by his side, showing his maturity, so Luffy gave him a wave that the cook gave back. "Of course I did. You me better than that." Luffy said to his 'brothers' just laugh. "So where are we?"

"You are in my home Luffy-chin." Luffy heard a woman's voice and turned to see a face he hadn't in two years but he knew her anywhere, just like a lot of his friends.

"Keimi!"

Keimi is a young mermaid who is generally seen wearing a cropped t-shirt and carrying a backpack. The t-shirt she is usually seen wearing in particular is of the same fashion brand, Criminal, her master Pappug designs. She is at least younger than thirty years old as her tail has yet to be split into two like what the Straw Hats learned back in Enies Lobby.

She is specifically a kissing gourami mermaid, and as a reference to the type of fish she is, she always expresses a very distinct face-fault whenever she is shocked by something. Whenever she expresses shock, along with her eyes typically popping out as commonly seen in manga and anime, her face-fault is always shown with a very wide open mouth that shows her teeth and her tongue is usually seen sticking out in an up and down, zigzag manner.

After two years, while Keimi's overall appearance has not changed much, she has been drawn more feminine than how she first appeared. Her mermaid fish tail is generally longer and slimmer now and her caudal fin is now larger and curvier, and her hair, rather than being parted down the middle, is parted to her right and is dyed. She now wears a spagetti-strap top with a jagged lower hem that exposes her stomach instead of a t-shirt, but still from Pappug's Criminal brand. She also wears a necklace with beads and a bracelet on her right wrist shaped like flowers.

Ignoring Sanji's pervert approach to Keimi that gave him a grotesque appearance, which scared the five young ones even more than Luffy, "It is nice to see you again. You definitely grown, not a girl anymore. You even look like a woman now!"

That got everyone's attention and Sanji especially felt his heart wrench to see that Keimi actually blushing at Luffy's style of flirting. "Thanks Luffy, you look good. You look like a real man."

"Well, I try my best." Luffy said before reaching of his head and the back of his belt but saw that he had two things no longer on him. "Where did they go!? Where did my clothes go!?" Now everyone was laughing at how silly Luffy is being; just how does he make a woman blush and laugh?

"Well I found you all soaked to the bone so I decided to get some help from my friends to undress you all, we can't have you catch a cold on your first visit." Keimi said with a red tone on the face that was a little too big to hide. Luffy smirked, she probably couldn't get over seeing just what his physique really is. Chopper is still a reindeer while Sanji and Usopp are more like athletes compared to Luffy's bodybuilder type.

"Here you all are. They are dry."

"They all are dry!"

"They are not dry."

"They might be dry."

"So what they are dry!"

Luffy then laughed or chuckled to be a better word at how the same five young ones came with a bag filled with clothes that belonged to the Straw Hats. "Whatever, thanks." Luffy said as he retrieved his outfit while Sanji handled over his straw hat. "Was there a big, heavy stick on me too?"

When Luffy asked that that, both Keimi and the five young mermaids looked at each other before going together. After a few minutes, they came back with Luffy's Bo staff but were all straining to lift it. "Thanks and sorry about all the trouble." Luffy took it like it was actually as light as feather.

"That can't be as heavy as it looks." Usopp said but was met with a slight glare from Luffy and a full blown one from their hosts.

"I don't say such things around our hosts, especially Keimi and her friends. Here." Luffy, instead of attaching it to the belt on his wooly shorts, shoved his staff into Usopp's arms that nearly buckled under the weight. It fell out of Usopp's hands and landed on his lap painfully.

"Okay, okay! I believe you now! Please get it off!" But while Chopper and Sanji were trying and failing to lift the staff, Luffy didn't budge a muscle.

"I will get it off when you apologize to Keimi and her friends for making them feel bad. They saved our lives, dried our clothes and even strained to make sure we don't lose our equipment. You just insulted them in return." Luffy said and Usopp yelped as the doctor and cook just made the positon more awkward and painful for him.

"I am sorry! I'm sorry! Really!" Usopp shouted,

"I don't want to hear it. Keimi and her friends do. So try again." Luffy said, turning and securing Usopp's head to face their hosts. After saying the same words again,

"At least you made the effort Usopp-chin. Now can you please lift the staff before it breaks Usopp-chin's bones?" Keimi said and Luffy gladly removed the staff when the terrible cracking was heard, faint as it is. "Just what is that made off and how is that you can lift it?"

"I made both this staff and the belt from my pants back on Rusukaina Island back in the Calm Belt." Luffy said and somehow, that island always interested his crew. And it looks like Luffy is going to share more about the island he trained on. "I weaved bark from the trees that long adapted to withstand mudslides, flooding, earthquakes and stampedes. It took a lot of sharpen rocks to peel over some the bark but I was able to make a complete belt to support my Bo Staff, made of a strange stone that gain ten pounds each month since I created it."

"That's so cool."

"That's cool!"

"That's not cool."

"That might be cool."

"So what it's cool?"

The five young ones said again and Luffy couldn't help but feel like visiting some of his nieces or cousins, they all were that cute. "Whatever, it works in all those ways." Luffy said and ignored everyone protesting, all that mattered was that the five young mermaids looked at Luffy with awe in their eyes. "I never got your names and since you are Keimi's friends, I won't mind you telling me.

"Sorry about that Luffy-chin. They are my friends, they are the Medaka Mermaid Quintuplets." Keimi introduced them at last.

The Medaka Mermaid Quintuplets are five tiny identical-looking mermaids. They all have curly hair and tails with white stripes. They also all wear cowboy hats, crop-tops, and bubble swim rings. The bubble rings apparently allow them to fly in mid-air. They are physically identical except for their colors and the designs of their hats.

"I am Ichika!"

Ichika is a redhead with a green-striped tail, her top is white and her hat is green with white polka-dots.

"I am Nika!"

Nika is blond with a red-striped tail, her top is red and her hat matches her tail.

"I am Sanka!"

Sanka has orange hair and a blue striped tail, both her top and hat are solid blue.

"I am Yonka!"

Yonka has pink hair and a brown-striped tail, her top is brown and her hat is white.

"I am Yonka II!"

"Shouldn't you be Goka!?" Usopp asked at the silly name for the final sister in the bunch.

Yonka Two (Or rather Goka as the fifth sister) has dark brown hair and a yellow-striped tail, her top is black and her hat has jaguar-prints.

"So where are we? Have you seen the rest of my crew!?" Luffy then said before Sanji, Usopp and Chopper calmed him down. They said that they were sure that they all made it. Luffy tried to scan for himself; it was headache trying to distinguish the unlimited signatures but Luffy was able to find his crew, they were all alive.

"As for where we are, you are in the female dormitory that is reserved for staff members at the Mermaid Café!" Keimi then said and when Sanji heard the words 'female dormitory' and 'Mermaid Café', he breathed heavily and looked like something that the Straw Hats present dreaded.

"Oh no! Sanji, don't!" Luffy shouted while he, Usopp and Chopper all hurried to try and stop their cook from another deadly nosebleed. But they were shocked more than relived to see that Sanji actually held it in and no blood came out.

"I will see them! I will see the mermaids!" Sanji then kneeled down and cried out his 'resolve' which didn't impress anyone one bit.

"Another thing Keimi." Luffy said and when he got her attention, "Do you know if there are any human blood donors on this island? We need to stock on our supply until Sanji gets over his stupid habit." Luffy said, clear as day. But he noticed that Keimi and the Quintuplets had suddenly gotten quiet and never answered that question.

End of Chapter 5.

 ***Thanks for the wait!***


	6. The Mermaid Café

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

"One Piece" – Speaking

'One Piece' – Thoughts

 _One Piece_ – Flashbacks

 **One Piece** – Techniques

A Large Leap

The Mermaid Café

 _Previously on A Large Leap,_

" _So where are we? Have you seen the rest of my crew!?" Luffy then said before Sanji, Usopp and Chopper calmed him down. They said that they were sure that they all made it. Luffy tried to scan for himself; it was headache trying to distinguish the unlimited signatures but Luffy was able to find his crew, they were all alive._

" _As for where we are, you are in the female dormitory that is reserved for staff members at the Mermaid Café!" Keimi then said and when Sanji heard the words 'female dormitory' and 'Mermaid Café', he breathed heavily and looked like something that the Straw Hats present dreaded._

" _Oh no! Sanji, don't!" Luffy shouted while he, Usopp and Chopper all hurried to try and stop their cook from another deadly nosebleed. But they were shocked more than relived to see that Sanji actually held it in and no blood came out._

" _I will see them! I will see the mermaids!" Sanji then kneeled down and cried out his 'resolve' which didn't impress anyone one bit._

" _Another thing Keimi." Luffy said and when he got her attention, "Do you know if there are any human blood donors on this island? We need to stock on our supply until Sanji gets over his stupid habit." Luffy said, clear as day. But he noticed that Keimi and the Quintuplets had suddenly gotten quiet and never answered that question._

"I'm…going…to…live here!" Sanji spoke, going all out with his eyes in the shape of hearts as he swam in the various pools. And that was because he was playing. Playing and swimming, with mermaids!

"Sanji, you're so funny!" One of them shouted out. The Mermaids were completely oblivious to how foolish and perverted Sanji was acting. Meanwhile, the other Strawhats were enjoying this in their own way, somewhat.

"Man, I wish that I can actually swim for once in my life. And to think that I was terrible even before I ate my Devil Fruit." Luffy moped around on a boulder, not even trying to get his feet wet. Usopp was having more fun than him and Chopper, who is also an **Akuma no Mi (Devil Fruit)** eater.

"You can swim too Luffy-chin!" Keimi said as she move out of the water to where Luffy was sitting. "All you need is the special bubble that can be made by our bubble reef."

"Like the ones from Sabaody Archipelago." Luffy said, remembering the fun he had with one of those bubbles and the gadget that came with one that turned one into something of a bicycle. It was great, being in a bubble that won't pop until it leaves the Sabaody Archipelago environment. "Sounds great but I have something else in mind than swimming."

"Like what Luffy-chin?" Keimi asked and Luffy smiled as bright as a 100 watt lightbulb.

"To see an old friend that I hadn't in two years, Jinbe!" Luffy proclaimed and that got the attention of the mermaids and his crew, minus Sanji.

"You mean, Big Boss Jinbe?" Keimi spoke for the mermaids and Luffy nodded.

"I fought with him during the War of the Best and he actually saved my neck. I owe him and I still haven't replayed him yet. I will love to see him again." Luffy said, with his mind filled with memories of his encounters from that cell in Impel Down, to the great escape and during the battle at Maineford.

"You know another warlord!?" Usopp finally caught up and Luffy just laughed.

"Yeah, unlike Hancock, he is his own pirate now. He resigned as soon as he entered the battlefield." Luffy said and everyone nodded, it was a sad and heartbreaking fact to accept. Jinbe's status as a Warlord actually brought peace and understanding between Humans, Merfolk and Fishmen alike.

"Keimi!" But that moment of heavy thinking was interrupted by a certain Quintuplets.

"There is a big ship coming."

"There is a big ship coming!"

"There is not a big ship coming."

"There might be a big ship coming."

"So what there is a big ship coming?"

Now Luffy will fine it funny and slightly confusing but he felt some signatures that belonged to no ordinary merfolk and even to the common soldier. These signatures screamed of authority and not in the corrupt kind. But Luffy told his crew to try and hide to see what is going on. They being pirates won't help anything.

But while Luffy, Usopp and Chopper (barely) were hiding behind a rock, Sanji was not. He was still playing with the mermaids and one of them tried to hide him in the worst (best he solely considered) place possible; she tried to hide him in her chest.

But Luffy was able to overhear that the signature he felt on that ship were a patrol of guards, with the Princes of Fishman Island. That meant they were the sons of the ruler of Fishman Island. But why will they waste their time in a place like this? Luffy was also able to get a good look at the Princes and even catch their names.

The one that looked the oldest and strictest was named Fukaboshi,

Fukaboshi is an enormous, muscular shark merman, with a wide chest and large arms. He has a long face, framed by wavy fair blue hair flowing down to his shoulders, a sharp and pointy nose, and a dot of some sort printed on the middle of his forehead. He has gills on his massive neck (although they may just be stripes) and a dark blue tail with light blue polka-dots.

He wears a dark garment around his waist, held up by an extremely long sash. He also dons a light blue long band, which passes over his shoulders, drawing a circle around the back of his neck, and falls down to his waist, seemingly floating behind him; something all of the three brothers sport, as well as their mother and sister in a fashion, quite possibly implying it is a sign of the Royal Family, or they simply share taste in clothing. He carries around a gold trident with him.

The tall and lean one on the left was named Ryuboshi,

Ryuboshi is an extremely tall and thin merman, and is the tallest of his brothers. He has wide eyes, long wavy dark pink hair, and beaver like teeth.

The only one of the princes to be clothed in the upper body, he wears a fancy robe like garment with sleeves that are puffed at the shoulders and wrists. He carries two swords behind him, held in place by an orange sash. He also has a long purple tail with white polka dots and a red fin.

And the remaining one that was the shortest and fattest looking was Manboshi,

Manboshi is a rotund, stocky and large merman. Like his brothers, he has a polka dot tail, with a black variation along with white polka dots and red scales. He also has brown hair and red fins on his head.

He wears a blue hat with a dirty white stripe going across the middle of it. The stripe is serrated on the bottom side and there is a dot pattern inside the stripe. He also wears a yellow sash, like his two older brothers.

But before Luffy could try to figure out why the Princes were here for, Sanji ruined it all. He couldn't even control his own perverseness. And he gave himself and the other Strawhats away with a nosebleed to top all those before, with the shape of a woman in a seductive pose.

XXXXX

"Sanji!" Luffy didn't care about hiding anymore and hurried to get his cook out of the water while that foolish and scared mermaid tried to wash the blood off her chest. "Chopper, how does it look?"

"It looks awful, terrible, and disastrous! I knew this will happen and what is worst, we don't even have a pint of blood matching Sanji's blood type!" Chopper panicked and Usopp tried to calm him down. But they both were wondering why Luffy hadn't called out for anyone's help, only stared into a certain direction.

"I saw that and don't you think for a minute that you and your little gang is going to get away with humiliating me! I am glad to start off with you Mugiwara!" It was Hammond and his gang who tried to attack the Thousand Sunny after it was 'dropped off' by Surume. Luffy was only relieved that Hammond admitted to not have found anymore of the Strawhats; they all were safe from him.

"Now come with us!" Hammond shouted while the crowds of Fishmen and other Merfolk muttered about how Hammond is showing himself outside the Fishman District. "You heard me Mugiwara, leave that pathetic human of a crewmember to die and come with us!" Luffy was just getting angrier and angrier, there were so many things about Hammond that made the Fishman entirely unpleasant to be around. "If you won't, then we will have to take you to the boss with force!" Hammond took out a large gun, so large that he had to use both of his hands to use.

 **"Utase Ami (Sailing Trawl Net)!"** And out of Hammond's gun came a net indeed that was big enough to capture all five of the pirates. But Luffy didn't care about it at all.

"I said…" Luffy spoke in a dark tone that was scaring everyone. "We are not…" As the net moved closer to him, "Going with you!" Luffy then adjusted his straw hat and tighten the muscles in his fingers.

 **"Juujika (Crossfire): Faibusuta-Dageki (Five-Star Strike)!"** Luffy aimed his attack for the net and around Hammond and his gang. And the mermaids all gasped to see that the ground underneath the members of the 'New Fishman Pirates' explode in a vent of hot air. And this caused all three of them to soar before falling hard; all except for Hyouzou, who was just barely conscious.

Then the Sea King that Hammond and his gang came with tried to ambush Luffy who didn't even move from his spot. Ignoring the cries from Usopp and Chopper calling out for him, Luffy just stopped the great beast with only his hand and a dose of **Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki)**.

Usopp and Chopper never got old of seeing their captain successfully and wisely avoided any further conflict while the mermaids were in shock. "Impressive." Fukaboshi could only say while his brothers stopped their singing and dancing, ready to draw their weapons if needed. But the real shocker for all was when the sea king stopped staring at Luffy like it was going to be punished. When Luffy looked at the sight of the Hammond and his gang, he pointed at them.

The sea king shocked everyone present by suddenly going after the trio instead of the Strawhats. Even though Hyouzou was able to gather up Hammond and Kasagoba with his tentacles, it was too late to try and run. That sea king grabbed them all and threw the trio far above the Mermaid's playground, into the bubble surrounding Fishman Island.

Then Luffy stared at the sea king, smiled at the job well done and pointed towards the exit too. There just wasn't a good place for the creature on the island after this incident. And that sea beast was glad to be spared by Luffy and anything else that can happened to it on this island.

"Well guys…" Luffy said to Usopp and Chopper who were still looking after Sanji, "This is not what I had in mind but we are going to the Mermaid Café after all. Unless you all have something to say about it." Luffy then stared at the crowd while still aware of the princes present. "Are you going to tell us to leave our friend to die too? If any of you aren't heartless, you will just go home and pretend this never happened.

And just like that nothing else happened and the presence of the princes was not actually necessary to settle down the incident. But they said to the Mermaids that they were arriving to cause trouble, but to give Luffy a message. Now it is too late for whatever that message had to say or whoever sent it.

XXXXX

Out in the back,

"Thanks for the help Madam Shyarly!"

Madam Shyarly is a very large mermaid with purple nail polish, red lipstick, sharp teeth, and blue eyes with slanted pupils that resemble shark eyes. When angry, her eyes take on an ominous appearance. She has short black hair that covers over the right side of her face. Her tail is dark blue with a dorsal fin on her lower back where her human and fish halves meet, a white patch below the dorsal fin, smaller fins on the lower front and back, and a lunate caudal fin.

She wears a hooded purple blouse that is only buttoned in the middle, revealing her cleavage and stomach and has a belly-chain around her waist. She is also smoking a pipe.

"No problem Keimi, anything for one of your friends. "I hope he is will be just fine." Thankfully the walls muffled the screaming that came from the poor and pitiful cook from his bed. He was given human blood that stabilized him at last after that geyser of a nosebleed. But while Sanji hoped some women did it, it was two of the last people he wanted to see; the crossdressing race of men from the Kamabakka Kingdom.

"Not to be rude but you are too beautiful, we can't risk killing Sanji again." Keimi brought up bluntly which any man will agree to. "Say, are you still doing future telling? You did foresee the war happening and the death of Whitebeard."

"Of course not Keimi. All I ever saw in my crystal ball was death and destruction. And for anyone to see it so much, they will just grow mad." Shyarly said and then they noticed Usopp and Luffy staring at her crystal ball; or more specially, Usopp was staring. Luffy was merely casting a glaze and scratching his chin hairs

"It looks genuine madam. But if you see nothing but death and destruction, then why are you keeping it? I will just get rid of it." Luffy said while Usopp tried to 'see his future' himself in the orb, only to see his own reflection.

"I have my reasons Mugiwara." Shyarly said without content for such language to herself.

"Okay then, what exactly did you see before you announced the War of the Best two years ago? I was there and something must have happened. I had a vision of myself falling into a coma and nearly gotten killed." Luffy said and suddenly the atmosphere had gotten gloomily. And Shyarly took in a huge sigh.

"I saw humans, humans battling to the death on top of a battlefield made of ice. There was a creature that was the size of mountain that was taken down by three strangers. There were many creatures that were a third of that monster's size. Then a ship came from the sky…" Shyarly never forgotten what she saw in her visions; both a gift and a curse. "I think I saw your face on that ship."

"I was definitely on a ship that fell into an opening in the ocean covered with ice for sure. Please tell us more." Luffy verified it and Shyarly nodded.

"I then saw two brothers, you and the other, trying to escape together. But a figure of great evil seduced the other brother and killed him." Shyarly then saw that Luffy's aura of anger and hate was radiating clearly in a black outline. "But that was when I saw something never seen before and I never told anyone about."

Luffy's aura suddenly disappeared and was replaced with an expression of confusion, curiosity and interest. "It was like when a traveler down a path hits a fork in the road, goes to the left and then finds himself back at that same fork but went right; and this happened in that order."

"So that is what happened?" Luffy muttered to himself but then spoke no more of it. Even after all this, he still refuses to explain what happened that sent his life down a much better path, compared to what could have happened; when Luffy fell into a coma at Ace's dead body.

XXXXX

After meeting and picking up Brock, they got to see that the mermaid café was indeed filled with both mermaids as staff and customers. They had to blindside Sanji so he won't suffer another of his now infamously known, explosive nosebleeds. But they couldn't stay in one place after that incident in the Fishman Island Main Square.

So they went with Keimi and Pappug, who revealed to be a bigtime clothing designer in the past two years, to the latter's residence that is also his main store. He is an orange starfish that appears to be stitched along his outline. His face is in the middle of his body and he wears a hat similar to a tam hat or Rasta cap. After two years, Pappug wears sunglasses with the Criminal brand logo on the rims and has a small bow tie.

On the way, they discussed about Big Mom and Vander Decken. Big Mom was one of the **Yonko (Four Emperors)** , like Whitebeard and Shanks; she took over the island to protect it in exchange for a month's worth of candy made by the factory that was built on the island.

As for Vander Decken. He was the original owner and caption of the Flying Dutchman that the Strawhats saw on their way to the island. But while his ship sank, he didn't die; not without having an heir to inherit the ship. And over the years, the family line continued all the way to the current owner. He was named Vander Decken the IX, and he was a Fishman pirate captain unlike his human ancestor.

But all that was to be put to the rear side of their minds once they arrived at Pappug's place. And from outside, they heard the sounds of a woman complaining from within. And the Strawhats and company had a good idea who that was. And when they entered, they were right on the money. It was,

"Nami!" Luffy called out to his navigator. When Nami turned around, she may have waved back but she was shocked to feel her captain embrace her hard. And with all those hard muscles pressing against her skin, Nami blushed and returned the hug.

"You sure are affective, huh Luffy?" Nami wasn't angry about it but she wanted to be sure rather than being a fool and accept it all on the spot. Luffy's smirk was enough to be her answer. "But anyways, look around this joint."

Luffy did that by stretching his neck and looking at every piece of clothing on the shelves and more specifically, the price tags. "Woah. Nami, you're right. I have seen clothes twice as cute for half these prices!"

"Exactly!" Nami shouted in happiness. Someone finally saw, even if Luffy was pretending, that this store is a disaster to Nami's standards of clothing and their prices. "This is an outrage! I demand a discount!"

"Who needs a discount Nami? They still owe us after everything that happened two years ago." Luffy said, retracting his head so that his neck is of normal length. "Is that right?"

"Yeah!" The starfish owner shouted in order to get Nami to stop pinching his cheek. "Everything here is for free! Help yourself!" Nami did release Pappug and looked bright eyed with stars.

"For free!?" Those two words must never come out of Nami's mouth as a minute later, everything off the self has been purchased, for free.

"You couldn't help yourself right!?" The poor starfish was shocked to see the premium brand he had been working on for the last few months just went with no money behind in order to make more.

"Sorry, you did say it was all for free." Luffy said, he was the one with the heaviest load while everyone else got a similarly sized bag but with each with a weight that neither one of them can buckle under.

But as soon as the Strawhats were about to leave through the front door, the sounds of a commotion were heard. And another employee came in a hurried panic, saying something about 'he is coming'.

Once the Strawhat Pirates and company arrived outside the store, everyone was talking about their 'king' appearing. And he did, on top of a giant whale that was wearing a crown like he is.

He is a giant-sized and muscular coelacanth merman. He has a red nose, small eyes, and long thick orange curly hair and beard. Both his chest and arms are covered with hair. He is bare-chested and has matching black tattoos on both arms, which looks like a spiral with wavy protrusion designs around it. He seems to wear a gold crown that resembles a tulip with jewels embedded, a golden bracelet on each wrist, and carries a gold trident with an elaborate design.

"Megalo? Are these the ones you spoke of?" The large merman turned to a familiar shark next to him.

"Hey! That's the shark that was trapped in Surume! He escaped when we knocked out that big lug!" Luffy said and surprised the locals of Fishman Island by talking about the Kraken so casually.

"Strawhats! I invite you to my palace on my daughter's suggestion!" Now that was something unexpected and while the pirates were frozen in shock and confusion, their friends fainted from the same, only twice as strong.

XXXXX

But at that moment when the Straw Hats left the café for Pappug's home, Shyarly suddenly collapsed in pain. And luckily, one of the staff members thought to check up on her and saw the state of the café owner. "Madam Shyarly!"

The mermaid hurried and while more staff members hurried to the cry of shock and helped get Shyarly comfortable, their boss spoke up. "Straw Hat…" To any visitor, this seems to be just speaking in pain but to the locals, this was when Shyarly predicted the death of a major figure or any other disaster about to happen.

"I see…a man with a straw hat…and flames…engulfing all Fishman Island." She said and when she saw the vision clearer, she was shocked as she recognized the figure of that man. It was just like Luffy's!

"The man with the straw hat will bring destruction to Fishman Island!" She shouted as it was the best she could do to intercept the vision. And it will be one of everyone's greatest fears.

End of Chapter 6.

 ***I was going to have this in the previous chapter but I guess it was laziness that I decided to cut that into half with this as the second half. Tell me what you think!***


	7. The Ryugu Palace

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

"One Piece" – Speaking

'One Piece' – Thoughts

 _One Piece_ – Flashbacks

 **One Piece** – Techniques

A Large Leap

The Ryugu Palace

 _Previously on A Large Leap,_

 _After meeting and picking up Brock, they got to see that the mermaid café was indeed filled with both mermaids as staff and customers. They had to blindside Sanji so he won't suffer another of his now infamously known, explosive nosebleeds. But they couldn't stay in one place after that incident in the Fishman Island Main Square._

 _So they went with Keimi and Pappug, who revealed to be a bigtime clothing designer in the past two years, to the latter's residence that is also his main store. He is an orange starfish that appears to be stitched along his outline. His face is in the middle of his body and he wears a hat similar to a tam hat or Rasta cap. After two years, Pappug wears sunglasses with the Criminal brand logo on the rims and has a small bow tie._

 _On the way, they discussed about Big Mom and Vander Decken. Big Mom was one of the Yonko (Four Emperors), like Whitebeard and Shanks; she took over the island to protect it in exchange for a month's worth of candy made by the factory that was built on the island._

 _As for Vander Decken. He was the original owner and caption of the Flying Dutchman that the Strawhats saw on their way to the island. But while his ship sank, he didn't die; not without having an heir to inherit the ship. And over the years, the family line continued all the way to the current owner. He was named Vander Decken the IX, and he was a Fishman pirate captain unlike his human ancestor._

 _But all that was to be put to the rear side of their minds once they arrived at Pappug's place. And from outside, they heard the sounds of a woman complaining from within. And the Strawhats and company had a good idea who that was. And when they entered, they were right on the money. It was,_

 _"Nami!" Luffy called out to his navigator. When Nami turned around, she may have waved back but she was shocked to feel her captain embrace her hard. And with all those hard muscles pressing against her skin, Nami blushed and returned the hug._

 _"You sure are affective, huh Luffy?" Nami wasn't angry about it but she wanted to be sure rather than being a fool and accept it all on the spot. Luffy's smirk was enough to be her answer. "But anyways, look around this joint."_

 _Luffy did that by stretching his neck and looking at every piece of clothing on the shelves and more specifically, the price tags. "Woah. Nami, you're right. I have seen clothes twice as cute for half these prices!"_

 _"Exactly!" Nami shouted in happiness. Someone finally saw, even if Luffy was pretending, that this store is a disaster to Nami's standards of clothing and their prices. "This is an outrage! I demand a discount!"_

 _"Who needs a discount Nami? They still owe us after everything that happened two years ago." Luffy said, retracting his head so that his neck is of normal length. "Is that right?"_

 _"Yeah!" The starfish owner shouted in order to get Nami to stop pinching his cheek. "Everything here is for free! Help yourself!" Nami did release Pappug and looked bright eyed with stars._

 _"For free!?" Those two words must never come out of Nami's mouth as a minute later, everything off the self has been purchased, for free._

 _"You couldn't help yourself right!?" The poor starfish was shocked to see the premium brand he had been working on for the last few months just went with no money behind in order to make more._

 _"Sorry, you did say it was all for free." Luffy said, he was the one with the heaviest load while everyone else got a similarly sized bag but with each with a weight that neither one of them can buckle under._

 _But as soon as the Strawhats were about to leave through the front door, the sounds of a commotion were heard. And another employee came in a hurried panic, saying something about 'he is coming'._

 _Once the Strawhat Pirates and company arrived outside the store, everyone was talking about their 'king' appearing. And he did, on top of a giant whale that was wearing a crown like he is._

 _He is a giant-sized and muscular coelacanth merman. He has a red nose, small eyes, and long thick orange curly hair and beard. Both his chest and arms are covered with hair. He is bare-chested and has matching black tattoos on both arms, which looks like a spiral with wavy protrusion designs around it. He seems to wear a gold crown that resembles a tulip with jewels embedded, a golden bracelet on each wrist, and carries a gold trident with an elaborate design._

 _"Megalo? Are these the ones you spoke of?" The large merman turned to a familiar shark next to him._

 _"Hey! That's the shark that was trapped in Surume! He escaped when we knocked out that big lug!" Luffy said and surprised the locals of Fishman Island by talking about the Kraken so casually._

 _"Strawhats! I invite you to my palace on my daughter's suggestion!" Now that was something unexpected and while the pirates were frozen in shock and confusion, their friends fainted from the same, only twice as strong._

 _XXXXX_

 _But at that moment when the Straw Hats left the café for Pappug's home, Shyarly suddenly collapsed in pain. And luckily, one of the staff members thought to check up on her and saw the state of the café owner. "Madam Shyarly!"_

 _The mermaid hurried and while more staff members hurried to the cry of shock and helped get Shyarly comfortable, their boss spoke up. "Straw Hat…" To any visitor, this seems to be just speaking in pain but to the locals, this was when Shyarly predicted the death of a major figure or any other disaster about to happen._

" _I see…a man with a straw hat…and flames…engulfing all Fishman Island." She said and when she saw the vision clearer, she was shocked as she recognized the figure of that man. It was just like Luffy's!_

" _The man with the straw hat will bring destruction to Fishman Island!" She shouted as it was the best she could do to intercept the vision. And it will be one of everyone's greatest fears._

"Cast off! Neptune!" The king proclaimed before both his pet whale, Hoe, and Megalo took off; with the Straw Hats and company on his back.

'Why does he keep saying that?' The Strawhats thought to each other, with the help of Luffy's telepathy. Keimi and Pappug were just frozen in shock and disbelief.

"So, grandpa-?" Nami said, addressing Neptune rather casually.

"That's King Neptune!" Pappug had foolishly tried to bite down on Nami's head, to try and teach her better on how to address the king of Fishman Island. He only got beaten to a pulp, worse if not for Luffy holding Nami by the shoulder. It surprised everyone gently on how Luffy can easily settle down their navigator, someone that even the captain himself once feared.

"Anyways, your Majesty…" Luffy then used all the lessons of respect for authority and politeness. "Why did you leave the safety and comfort of your palace just to pick us up? Would it be more efficient if you sent a messenger? We never could refuse if you did."

"Of course Mugiwara." Neptune nodded and everyone thought that they were dreaming, of a Luffy that wasn't uncouth or blunt or both. "This is special because Megalo is my daughter's best friend and the one who asked of you to come to my house."

Luffy then looked down and rubbed on what seemed to be a random spot, but to Megalo it was the best place to be rubbed. "You asked of the king for us to see your home? You really are a darling shark."

Megalo actually purred a lot like a cat did to the touch of his owner. While this jolted the passengers, Megalo made sure not to drop them. "I got to say, Mugiwara." Luffy turned away but didn't stop rubbing to pay attention to Neptune. "You are an interesting human, to not only be able to understand Megalo but to figure out where he loves to be touched."

"I am not a mermaid like you, your Majesty. I am just using a robust version of your natural talent to understand anything sentential." Luffy then turned back to Megalo. "My power only allows me to hear the voice of their thoughts, clear as day to me. I can't read minds, only listen to them. And Megalo was telling me where he wanted me to rub him."

And then Luffy used both of his hands to rub that same spot, making Megalo shake in pleasure. Nami found it so cute, that he couldn't resist rubbing it too; her touch might not be Luffy's but he welcomed it too. "But there is something else that we will like to know, King Neptune."

"And what is that?"

"We are ten thousand feet below the surface. But here, it is as bright as daylight here in Fishman Island. How can that be?" Luffy was straight and to the point. And Neptune nodded in response.

"I understand that you are confused. We all give credit to her." Neptune pointed to a large tree that was outside the entire Fishman Island. "That is the treasure tree named Eve. She grows from here, all the way to the surface. There sunlight is adsorbed into her branches and leaves and sent down here. That is how Fishman Island can have periods of daylight and nighttime exactly like above the water."

The Strawhats were in awe. There is such a beautiful tree like Eve exists in the world. "We need to tell Franky once we meet up again. His signature, like the others, is still steady as ever." Luffy may have changed in the past two years but he is still the world's worse liar.

Later, within the palace.

"How could you!? Your Majesty should be more responsible than this disgrace!" Now, anyone saying such thing should be executed. But these words came from the Minster On The Right, always with the Minster On The Left in any kingdom.

He is a seahorse merman, having ridges along his back and the sides of his face, as well as a curly orange tail like a seahorse rather than a standard merman's fishtail. His mouth also protrudes forwards like a seahorse's. He wears a jacket with two circles and a band on each sleeve. His jacket's sleeves are very large on the end. He carries a katana on his left hip and a trishula-like trident.

And the Minister of the Left is a short, rather rotund merman with light blond waist-length hair. He has a long beard and, like a catfish, two large whiskers for a mustache. He wears a monocle on his left eye and an over-sized top hat. He uses a wooden cane that has horned design on the top to get around.

It seems that King Neptune was actually being bossed around by his Minsters, not the other way around. Not every impressive for a king. But then, Luffy smelled something that caused old instincts to take over; to follow that smell and see if he can try out the food.

'Luffy!' Nami could have shouted but she decided to use her thoughts instead. To not interrupt any business of the Minsters and the King. 'Come back!' Nami realized that she better drag him back herself so she hurried after Luffy. Not that anyone noticed because of the scene played by the King and the Right Minster.

XXXXX

"Luffy! You can't just run off!" Nami had been chasing Luffy all over the palace until she got to the point that she can afford to yell out loud. "LUFFY! FOR CRYING…" Nami almost blew her fuse when she saw that Luffy was staring at a large door, not moving. Not even after the guard brought in a cart of food, all the while ignoring the two pirates in his presence. "…loud?"

"Nami." After a while, Luffy finally spoke. And then signaled for his navigator to come towards him. "I met to start your training but I will need you to still try. Try to feel the signature, sleeping inside."

Nami wondered why she wasn't going to yell at her captain. Maybe it was his voice that was giving her shiver that did this. But ignoring all that, Nami tried to do what Luffy did when he spoke with his thoughts. And Nami then felt it all.

Nami could feel the flow of the ocean from outside the bubble. She could hear the voices of the fish that were out of sight's range; talking about 'swimming' and 'eating'. So Nami tried to hone in this feeling past the door and then saw something despite her eyes closed. It was a light, as big as King Neptune himself, and it was in the shape of female mermaids by the fish tail and slender upper features.

But Nami then felt something else. This light was not of happiness, but of sadness. Of guild, regret. But there was also the feeling that Nami could have sworn to be that of a child in an adult's body. And lastly, it reminded Nami a lot of her own emotions. "Hah!" Of course, Nami then got the recoil of exhausting her reach and she feel into Luffy's arms.

Taking in the warmth and softness, Nami was able to relax through her tiredness. "Did you…?"

"Following the smell was just an excuse to check it out. And it did help you find the one that truly felt what you had to." Luffy said and then opened one of the doors with his good hand, the other was helping Nami get comfortable. The room was dark, like someone was sleeping but the pirates just couldn't see who.

Once Luffy saw the food on the other side of the room, he drooled but kept himself behaved since Nami was around. "You want that food. It has been a while since we last ate. Everything happening made us all forget."

"Yeah." Luffy said simply and Nami giggled, she really had this powerhouse of a captain wrapped her little finger. It made her feel extra special; to be the only one that can tame this monkey of a man.

"If you are hungry then you can take a little. Just behave." Luffy nodded and Nami released her hold on the pirate captain but soon lost her balance. And she had only large mounds to steady herself on. But these felt soft and squishy to the touch.

Luffy then noticed that he wasn't running on concert flooring, but something like human skin. And then the 'floor' started to move and lift up, tripping Luffy and Nami to fall. "Why are you walking over me!?" It was a mermaid, a giant one indeed but with the voice of a shy little girl.

She was a giant-sized mermaid; roughly eight to ten times the size of Luffy, an average human, excluding the length of her tail. She has very long, flowing pink hair with a taiyaki-shaped hairgrip. Her breasts are large, even relative to her giant-like size, and much of her upper body is exposed. Her broadly striped tail ends in a ruffle around her waist. She tends to have blush marks on her cheeks due to her shyness.

She wears a cleavage baring yellow halter top covered in pearls with a strap that widens and sticks out on the back of her neck. She also wears clam earrings and belly chains with a cloth hanging down in front. She has a very long light red and pink striped tail.

Luffy and Nami couldn't figure out what to say and just pulled each other together. This girl could just flatten them easily.

XXXXX

While this is all happening,

"No! Guys, you shouldn't!" Keimi cried out while both she and Pappug watched from the sidelines. They are seeing Usopp and Brook in an air bubble, with weapons drawn and surrounded by knocked out guards, littering the floor at their feet. "This won't help!"

"We know Keimi!" Usopp shouted. "But they were the ones that attacked us, even after the king invited us into the palace!"

"The King knows this and agrees that this was a mistake!" One of the guards, still standing, shouted and turned to Neptune. "Right, your Majesty!?"

"I am sorry, my guests. But Madam Shyarly is never wrong with her predications." Neptune then readied his own weapon on standby. "We can't take any chances. This is how we survived all these years. And I am still the King of Fishman Island."

"Fine! But we are not going down! We are still pirates!" Usopp shouted and both he and Brook raised their guards.

"Usopp is right! We are not the type to accept an invitation, only to backstab everyone and take over." Brook said. "And yet there are plenty of pirates out there that will love to do such disgraceful behavior. But if you all continue this…" Brook then looked like a real Shinigami. "We will fight forever. If that is what you want."

With this said, Brook finally revealed the sword that is conventionally hidden in his crane. Once the blade faced the remaining guards, they all started to flinch.

"They are strong, even without the captain!" One of them shouted while every other guard gave their own two cents. It seems that no one thought that the crew members were more than capable of holding their own, against such numbers; not just Luffy or Zoro or Sanji.

"I believe that I have heard enough." Neptune finally acted and raised his trident. "If you refuse to make this any easier for anyone of us, then I will have to take matters into my own hands, as the king!"

Brook and Usopp braced. This could be a little messy since Neptune has the advantage in size and strength. But when Neptune tried to send his trident down on the duo, it was stopped.

Stopped by a pair of swords. Welded and used by a human. Something that should be impossible. But not this human. "Zoro!"

"I was locked away, to miss this? Not on your lives." The swordsman said with the face of a demon excited.

End of Chapter 6.

 ***I have been thinking about making a chapter like this one. One where Luffy not only breaks off but also Nami. She is slowly but surely becoming a woman that can't be herself anywhere without her captain. About Usopp and Brook, they will still be fine with the guards trying to arrest them.***


	8. The Mermaid Princess

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

"One Piece" – Speaking

'One Piece' – Thoughts

 _One Piece_ – Flashbacks

 **One Piece** – Techniques

A Large Leap

The Mermaid Princess

 _Previously on A Large Leap,_

" _Luffy! You can't just run off!" Nami had been chasing Luffy all over the palace until she got to the point that she can afford to yell out loud. "LUFFY! FOR CRYING…" Nami almost blew her fuse when she saw that Luffy was staring at a large door, not moving. Not even after the guard brought in a cart of food, all the while ignoring the two pirates in his presence. "…loud?"_

 _"Nami." After a while, Luffy finally spoke. And then signaled for his navigator to come towards him. "I meant to start your training but I will need you to still try. Try to feel the signature, sleeping inside."_

 _Nami wondered why she wasn't going to yell at her captain. Maybe it was his voice that was giving her shiver that did this. But ignoring all that, Nami tried to do what Luffy did when he spoke with his thoughts. And Nami then felt it all._

 _Nami could feel the flow of the ocean from outside the bubble. She could hear the voices of the fish that were out of sight's range; talking about 'swimming' and 'eating'. So Nami tried to hone in this feeling past the door and then saw something despite her eyes closed. It was a light, as big as King Neptune himself, and it was in the shape of female mermaids by the fish tail and slender upper features._

 _But Nami then felt something else. This light was not of happiness, but of sadness. Of guild, regret. But there was also the feeling that Nami could have sworn to be that of a child in an adult's body. And lastly, it reminded Nami a lot of her own emotions. "Hah!" Of course, Nami then got the recoil of exhausting her reach and she feel into Luffy's arms._

 _Taking in the warmth and softness, Nami was able to relax through her tiredness. "Did you…?"_

 _"Following the smell was just an excuse to check it out. And it did help you find the one that truly felt what you had to." Luffy said and then opened one of the doors with his good hand, the other was helping Nami get comfortable. The room was dark, like someone was sleeping but the pirates just couldn't see who._

 _Once Luffy saw the food on the other side of the room, he drooled but kept himself behaved since Nami was around. "You want that food. It has been a while since we last ate. Everything happening made us all forget."_

 _"Yeah." Luffy said simply and Nami giggled, she really had this powerhouse of a captain wrapped her little finger. It made her feel extra special; to be the only one that can tame this monkey of a man._

 _"If you are hungry then you can take a little. Just behave." Luffy nodded and Nami released her hold on the pirate captain but soon lost her balance. And she had only large mounds to steady herself on. But these felt soft and squishy to the touch._

 _Luffy then noticed that he wasn't running on concert flooring, but something like human skin. And then the 'floor' started to move and lift up, tripping Luffy and Nami to fall. "Why are you walking over me!?" It was a mermaid, a giant one indeed but with the voice of a shy little girl._

 _She was a giant-sized mermaid; roughly eight to ten times the size of Luffy, an average human, excluding the length of her tail. She has very long, flowing pink hair with a taiyaki-shaped hairgrip. Her breasts are large, even relative to her giant-like size, and much of her upper body is exposed. Her broadly striped tail ends in a ruffle around her waist. She tends to have blush marks on her cheeks due to her shyness._

 _She wears a cleavage baring yellow halter top covered in pearls with a strap that widens and sticks out on the back of her neck. She also wears clam earrings and belly chains with a cloth hanging down in front. She has a very long light red and pink striped tail._

 _Luffy and Nami couldn't figure out what to say and just pulled each other together. This girl could just flatten them easily._

 _XXXXX_

 _While this is all happening,_

 _"No! Guys, you shouldn't!" Keimi cried out while both she and Pappug watched from the sidelines. They are seeing Usopp and Brook in an air bubble, with weapons drawn and surrounded by knocked out guards, littering the floor at their feet. "This won't help!"_

 _"We know Keimi!" Usopp shouted. "But they were the ones that attacked us, even after the king invited us into the palace!"_

 _"The King knows this and agrees that this was a mistake!" One of the guards, still standing, shouted and turned to Neptune. "Right, your Majesty!?"_

 _"I am sorry, my guests. But Madam Shyarly is never wrong with her predications." Neptune then readied his own weapon on standby. "We can't take any chances. This is how we survived all these years. And I am still the King of Fishman Island."_

 _"Fine! But we are not going down! We are still pirates!" Usopp shouted and both he and Brook raised their guards._

 _"Usopp is right! We are not the type to accept an invitation, only to backstab everyone and take over." Brook said. "And yet there are plenty of pirates out there that will love to do such disgraceful behavior. But if you all continue this…" Brook then looked like a real Shinigami. "We will fight forever. If that is what you want."_

 _With this said, Brook finally revealed the sword that is conventionally hidden in his crane. Once the blade faced the remaining guards, they all started to flinch._

 _"They are strong, even without the captain!" One of them shouted while every other guard gave their own two cents. It seems that no one thought that the crew members were more than capable of holding their own, against such numbers; not just Luffy or Zoro or Sanji._

 _"I believe that I have heard enough." Neptune finally acted and raised his trident. "If you refuse to make this any easier for anyone of us, then I will have to take matters into my own hands, as the king!"_

 _Brook and Usopp braced. This could be a little messy since Neptune has the advantage in size and strength. But when Neptune tried to send his trident down on the duo, it was stopped._

 _Stopped by a pair of swords. Welded and used by a human. Something that should be impossible. But not this human. "Zoro!"_

 _"I was locked away, to miss this? Not on your lives." The swordsman said with the face of a demon excited._

*WAAH!* Luffy and Nami found themselves holding onto their ears, or else they will lose them with this infernal crying. Seriously? Is this giant Mermaid that much of a crybaby? This didn't fit her large size and she looks to be sixteen years old too. "Daddy! Brothers! Help!"

She cried and cried louder than a banshee. Luffy and Nami couldn't even hear themselves think. No wonder Luffy hadn't tried his makeshift telepathy, he only got it half a year ago so he couldn't concentrate enough with such a racket.

"Luffy! What do we do!?" Nami was panicking and for once, she didn't care if her face was burning from being near Luffy's physique. She was just too afraid and too much in pain to think of that.

Luffy then covered her mouth, causing her to freeze from the close contact. "Save your breathe Nami! We need it to talk our way out of this!" Luffy shouted and then gritted his teeth to block out the noise while Nami just nodded and held her ears too.

"Help! Bad people are here to kill me! Eat me! Take me! Help me!" The mountain sized mermaid just continued to scream for help and the pirates couldn't do a thing to settle her down. Shouting will just worse it and the mere touch on her scales only makes the screams louder. But then Luffy found his eyes opening alarmingly as his senses are shouting louder than the crybaby mermaid.

Luffy only had a few seconds to see a large, double-sided axe come in through the door that was left open. Gently leaving Nami's hold, Luffy was able to move and block the axe which was only inches from the mermaid's heart. This caused both girls present to gasp at how it all happened in an instant; Shirahoshi is obvious and Nami still hasn't gotten through the basics of battle to keep up with her captain.

And while Luffy can keep the axe in midair for a few more moments, he needed to move it and place the axe where it can't hurt the princess anymore. That was actually what happened, Luffy slinging the axe into one of the walls of the bedroom; and it was embedded deep enough for anything controlling it to be mute, the axe is now useless.

"What is with that thing?" Luffy muttered as he caught his breathe. That was nerve wracking, even for someone like him who is supposed to be reckless and utterly fearless.

"Vander Decken." The giant mermaid said with fear flooding her system.

And when she said that name, Luffy couldn't stop himself from seeing an image of Vander Decken. And he also felt that Nami saw him too.

Decken is a tall individual with beige-colored skin, slim build, and lanky limbs. His most distinguishing feature is his four legs. He has a short, scraggly goatee, a long, wavy mustache with spiky edges, and similarly, long, wavy and spiky black hair. He also has sharp teeth, with bigger webs between his fingers than most fishmen, a very thin, pointy nose and a prominent hunch that puts his head on equal level with his shoulders.

He wears three golden bands on each of his ankles, and two pairs of sandals. He sports green overalls reaching just below his knees, with ruffled edges and decorative buttons on both the straps, over a light green-colored shirt with ruffled edges. He sports a yellow cape, also complete with ruffled edges, draped over his shoulders, and two massive beaded necklaces hanging on his chest. Finally, Decken wears a yellow fedora with a purple band on his head.

But what got Luffy and Nami out of the image stupor were the sounds of footsteps, approaching the door. And by the sheer sound, there was a large number of them. It must be the guards, hearing the princess cry out from her room!

"Luffy…" Nami was getting worried to being caught but before Luffy could respond, they both were grabbed by the giant mermaid's hand. And the mermaid just hid them behind her back!

"Ssh…" Luffy gently silenced his navigator, seeing that the princess was hiding them. The best they can do and keep silent about it. Nami nodded and made sure that she won't even make a peep.

"Princess! Princess Shirahoshi!" That was definitely the guards and that voice was of the Minister to the Right, the captain of the palace guard and in charge of the army. "We heard screaming! Where are the intruders!?"

The pirates then heard the princess's name at last and finally realized why she is so big. She is King Neptune's daughter and that coelacanth merman was giant in size himself. They never figured that out from seeing that princes, Neptune's sons and Shirahoshi's brothers, were more like the size of regular mermaids.

"I'm sorry Minister-sama." The princess said. "I was only having a nightmare and didn't realize that I alarmed you with my yelling. There is no danger but thanks anyway for checking on me." Luffy and Nami silently gasped, the Princess lied and covered for them instead of selling them out?

"I am just glad that it was only a nightmare princess. We have enough trouble today as it is. Please go back to sleep, we will still watch for you." The Minister of the Right was not the type to think the princess was a liar. "Two of you close the doors, now!" The Minister shouted and two of the guards rushed to close both steel doors to the tower room.

Once that was done, Shirahoshi gently released Luffy and Nami, placing them on her bed. But as soon as she did that, the pirates saw that she broke into tears again. Only that she didn't cry out like when she was scared by the presence of both Luffy and Nami. "For ten years! And it is all to the Mark-Mark curse!" Now that got Luffy and Nami's attention.

"What do you mean curse? I already seen that used before, there is no magic. Just **Akuma no Mi**." Luffy asked and Shirahoshi stopped to look down to them. "I was told of most of the Devil Fruits during my training. The **Mato-Mato no Mi** allows the user to always hit their target. By spreading the influence onto weapons and projectiles so that they can be sent from any direction and yet will move in mid –flight to hit the user's target." Nami nodded, that was a very useful and deadly power if used right; then again, every Devil Fruit

" **Akuma no Mi**? Fruit of the Devil?" She said in a timid tone. It was like just the name got her scared. So much that she didn't even take attention to Luffy's description. "Are they fruit that look like devils?"

"Don't know about that Princess. They look more like fruit than anything else, just with strange colors and patterns." Luffy explained. "And when you eat just one, you gain the power stored inside the **Akuma no Mi**. It doesn't event turn you into a devil."

"So why are they called that?" Shirahoshi no longer sounded scared. She even looked that way; not scared but curious. "I know that you are not a devil Luffy-sama and Nami-sama is with you so she must not be one either." She spoke in a childish tone that matched her tendency to cry out despite her age.

Luffy just smiled. "You are a good girl Shirahoshi. I am sure you will do just fine as their princess." Shirahoshi didn't scream or cry but blush.

"T-thank you Luffy-sama." Now Shirahoshi is showing a shy side to her childish demeanor.

"Anyhow, can you share some of your food? It's been a while since me or Nami had eaten." Luffy asked and pointed to the large plate of food behind Shirahoshi. The larger-than-life princess turned and just smiled.

"I lost my appetite already Luffy-sama. You and Nami-sama can help yourself." Shirahoshi answered and was amused to see Luffy suddenly take Nami into his arms, making her blush violently. The mermaid princess watched as Luffy then approached her plate of food like a grasshopper, and allowed Nami to get back on her feet; she still had that blush as she pouted at herself for not wanting to enjoy the feeling of Luffy's arms and presence while in his arms.

And Luffy seemed to just smile at it too, then he hurried and helped himself to the giant bread, grapes, fish, spaghetti and drink as well as the rest of the food for the princess. Of course, he first gave some to Nami so she will eat some, leaving the rest for Luffy and his bottomless appetite to finish.

"Let me get this straight." Luffy said between eating sessions. "This Vander Decken we have been hearing wants to marry you?" Luffy asked. "But it looks like he wants to kill you too. That makes no sense."

"All I know is that he has been doing things like this for ten years. That is also how long I have been in this room, never leaving." Now that got Luffy and Nami wide eyed. If they had to spend ten long years in one single room, either one of them will grow mad.

"Man, having to spend over half your life in just one place is just stupid. I will hate to live like that." Luffy said. "I just hope this isn't upsetting you too much Nami." Luffy turned to his navigator that has long lost that annoying blush from being Luffy's arm to now a sullen look. She barely ate the breadcrumbs, compared to what Luffy was eating.

"I'll be fine Luffy. I only had it half as bad as the princess." Luffy heard that perfectly, even though Nami was hoping that to be the case by speaking in whispers. But it never works out,

"Half as bad? As me?" The pirates stiffened. "You both looked so happy, I thought you had a much better life." Luffy and Nami both sighed.

"Appearances are always deceiving Princess. It is always the case, it never wrong. So please don't forget that when you are called for duty." Luffy said, remembering all those instances from two years ago that many people underestimated him for his young quirks. "Take him for example."

Nami and Shirahoshi were a little confused about that until they both turned to see. "Megalo!" Shirahoshi hugged that larger than average shark that seeming appeared out of nowhere. "I heard that you were eaten, thank goodness you are alright!"

"He was eaten Princess. By Surume, my Kraken." Luffy verified and Megalo nodded before gently leaving Shirahoshi's grasp, to nuzzle the pirate like a cat to its beloved owner. "Okay, knock that off."

"So you are the pirate that helped Megalo. I knew you were a good person, like Nami-sama." Shirahoshi then got cheery again but then saw that Nami and Luffy were both looking downcast for some reason; even Megalo was confused. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Luffy simply said, before looking up to the princess. "Princess, there are a lot of things I have to learn after I made mistakes. Rules after I break them." Shirahoshi was tilting her head in a cute fashion. "Always remember this one too Princess. Is a person good or bad? You decide."

"Huh?" Shirahoshi said like the child she is.

"I can't make you see me like a good person. Or make you see the ones I can't stand as bad guys. You have to make that decision yourself." Luffy said, with experience as clear as day in his words.

And apparently, this actually meant something to Shirahoshi. The mermaid princess just lost her curious look and became sullen too. It was like, taking an example from Luffy and Nami, there was this memory of Shirahoshi's that was triggered by Luffy's words. "Is there some place you want to go?"

Shirahoshi gasped and turned to Luffy. No one has ever said such things to her, or asked her that before. It looked like Shirahoshi has an answer but was hesitate to speak it out loud. So she said, "Yes. There are a lot of places I want to go. But I have to stay in this tower, Father and Brothers say that it was too dangerous to go out."

The pirate felt their hearts breaking to hear that. Who needs to live with so much desire to see the world but has to stay in a tower for all their life? Luffy, being the man all about freedom, is not going to let this stand down any longer.

"Don't worry Nami, Shirahoshi and Megalo." They all turned to the straw hat wearing captain who had a megawatt smile on his face. "I have a plan." Nami was pale while both Shirahoshi and Megalo were feeling a little uneasy.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, back in the Palace,

"All I have to say…" Usopp voice was heard, "THAT THIS IS OVERKILL!" Like dragging was bad enough, everyone had to hear that outburst.

"I agree!" Inside, Brook sided with an enraged Usopp. "You should have approached this is a much better way!"

"Ah, shut it!" Zoro then retorted. "They attacked first and they did want to throw us out as soon as we were allowed in! I say that they got what they deserve!" Zooming out, it seems that not only were the palace guards defeated and tied up, but also King Neptune too! And since ropes were enough for the soldiers and their captain, they used chains for the King himself.

Apparently, when the palace guards and the king tried to capture the pirates, even after the ones reporting to the Princess's tower arrived, the Straw Hats were forced to retaliate. And it seems that Zoro had did more than that, he pretty much took over the entire Palace.

Poor Keimi and Pappug could do nothing but shake in nervousness. They are torn between running to evade capture and sticking with their friends, a real proverbial corner. And while the guards were keeping quiet about this humiliation that they were done with pirates that are now arguing among themselves; Neptune could only mutter about his aging and aching back.

Then they heard it. The sound that ceased the Straw Hats' bickering. The deafened sound of a steel door being hit. "Vander Decken sent yet another weapon to the Princess Tower!" A soldier shouted out while the others started to panic; this could mean bad news and they are helpless with ropes holding them down.

"Dammit!" The Minister on the Right muttered before facing the pirates. "Hey, Straw Hats! I will call of anymore attacks if you do me a favor! I need to be there for the princess!"

"Is the princess any beautiful?" Brook walked up to the Minister on the Right who could only sweat drop on the back of his head and not say a word.

XXXXX

And so,

"I said to release me!" Brook was running down the hallways with the Minister on the Right, still tied up in ropes. "I will check on the princess!"

"Sorry, but I only agreed to that if you promise for me to get a glimpse at the mermaid princess!" Brook was still the perverted gentleman like before. He sure is an enigma, a combo that makes no sense. But all that was halted once they got to the doors to the princess's tower.

The sound of the doors being hit by weapons was confirmed. Only, instead of axes or swords being the weapons, it was humans. Human beings that were either stuck in the walls around the door or on the ground, all covered in blood. "Vander Decken used living projectiles this time!? He never done that before!"

Brook was just shocked and speechless. By how one person, of any race, can treat living beings in such a disgraceful way. And the sight of the bloodied humans brought back bad memories within the eighty year old skeleton; memories of his own dying crew after that attack had doomed them all, with only the energy and time left for one more music session as one by one succumbed to the poison embedded wounds.

That was also when the bodies started to twitch and the bloodied humans started to rise like zombies. "The…switch…" One of them spoke as if his lungs were damaged badly. "The…switch…to…open…the…gate…"

"Where…is…it?" Another got up and spoke in the same way.

"Show us…the switch…" Yet another spoke well, better than the ones before, even with blood and bruises all over. "Or we all die!" But before Brook or the Minister could say anything, something else happened at the tower.

"Go Megalo! Off to the forest!" The doors of the tower burst open to reveal,

"Luffy-san and Nami-san!?"

"Megalo!?"

They were right. Megalo swam, swam like something was going to eat him. And, within an air bubble, was Luffy and Nami. Nami was pointing for Megalo to go while Luffy looked like he was in deep thought and stiff meditation. But there was someone else flying out of the tower with them.

It was the Mermaid Princess herself! Shirahoshi was riding on Megalo's back, but no one seems to notice that. 'Luffy-sama was right! Now I am finally leaving without permission! But everyone, I will be back before dinner!'

End of Chapter 8.

 ***Thanks for the support!***


	9. A Supposed Take-Over

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

"One Piece" – Speaking

'One Piece' – Thoughts

 _One Piece_ – Flashbacks

 **One Piece** – Techniques

A Large Leap

A Supposed Take-Over And A Undersea Forest

 _Previously on A Large Leap,_

 _And so,_

" _I said to release me!" Brook was running down the hallways with the Minister on the Right, still tied up in ropes. "I will check on the princess!"_

" _Sorry, but I only agreed to that if you promise for me to get a glimpse at the mermaid princess!" Brook was still the perverted gentleman like before. He sure is an enigma, a combo that makes no sense. But all that was halted once they got to the doors to the princess's tower._

 _The sound of the doors being hit by weapons was confirmed. Only, instead of axes or swords being the weapons, it was humans. Human beings that were either stuck in the walls around the door or on the ground, all covered in blood. "Vander Decken used living projectiles this time!? He never done that before!"_

 _Brook was just shocked and speechless. By how one person, of any race, can treat living beings in such a disgraceful way. And the sight of the bloodied humans brought back bad memories within the eighty-year-old skeleton; memories of his own dying crew after that attack had doomed them all, with only the energy and time left for one more music session as one by one succumbed to the poison embedded wounds._

 _That was also when the bodies started to twitch and the bloodied humans started to rise like zombies. "The…switch…" One of them spoke as if his lungs were damaged badly. "The…switch…to…open…the…gate…"_

" _Where…is…it?" Another got up and spoke in the same way._

" _Show us…the switch…" Yet another spoke well, better than the ones before, even with blood and bruises all over. "Or we all die!" But before Brook or the Minister could say anything, something else happened at the tower._

" _Go Megalo! Off to the forest!" The doors of the tower burst open to reveal,_

" _Luffy-san and Nami-san!?"_

" _Megalo!?"_

 _They were right. Megalo swam, swam like something was going to eat him. And, within an air bubble, was Luffy and Nami. Nami was pointing for Megalo to go while Luffy looked like he was in deep thought and stiff meditation. But there was someone else flying out of the tower with them._

 _It was the Mermaid Princess herself! Shirahoshi was riding on Megalo's back, but no one seems to notice that. 'Luffy-sama was right! Now I am finally leaving without permission! But everyone, I will be back before dinner!'_

"Why would Megalo just barge right out of the tower like that, with two of your crewmates?" The Minister on the Right asked and Brook had no idea either.

"At least now I can tell everyone else where Luffy-san and Nami-san have gone off too." The skeleton said until both of them faced each other when they finally remembered what they were doing at the tower in the first place.

"THE PRINCESS!"

Evading and whizzing past the zombie-like human pirates, the two finally got to see inside the room; which was obviously empty! "Where did she go!? She can't have been kidnapped right under our noses!" Of course, that was dashed when Brook happened to gaze away from the entrance to the princess's room.

"Look! There are fishmen at the front door!" Brook then suddenly shouted and pointed his hand made of nothing but bones into that direction. The Minister on the Right then took a look and recognized two of them.

"That's Vander Decken of the Flying Pirates! And Hody Jones of Fishman District!" Brook had heard of that section; it was the most violent district on Fishman Island. That means whoever lives there is a bad news. Brook had to get himself and the tied Minister on the Right back to the main room, fast!

XXXXX

Meanwhile, in other parts of Fishman Island,

"I told you that we will get you out Shirahoshi. You just didn't trust me." Luffy smirked to see that Nami, the princess and Megalo had the expression of having their distrust filled in the rough way.

"Right, right Luffy." Nami grumbled until Luffy cheered her up by gently pulling her by the shoulder into close contact of his chest. She silently groaned and growled at herself for being so weak-willed when it came to having this 'handsome hulk' give her attention and affection; to everyone else, she was trying to nuzzle her way into Luffy's head like a tamed house cat in the presence of her owner.

"All joking aside, Shirahoshi?" Luffy then turned to the princess. "You said that you had a place to want to be right?" Shirahoshi nodded. "Do you know where it is, we can go there if you want."

Shirahoshi then started to cry, almost worrying Luffy and Nami. But she didn't brawl and instead had the expression of looking forward, to doing something that she wanted for years. "Yes, there is a deep sea forest Luffy-sama. There is a grave. That is where I want to go, it is the grave of someone that I have missed for ten years."

"…" Luffy said nothing. 'Maybe Ace and old man Whitebeard both have a grave of their own somewhere in the Grand Line. Somewhere that even Shanks or Rayleigh wanted to me to go just yet.' "Of course Shirahoshi. Megalo, take us to the Deep Sea Forest."

Elsewhere,

"What's all this!?" One citizen was approaching what appeared to be a bus stop but there was a pile of knocked out solders on the ground. "Who could have done such a thing?" None one found about this but a certain archeologist was intercepted by this squadron but easily overpowered them and got on her ride like planned.

"Those troopers are supposed to be protecting this island? No wonder out captain is feeling uneasy about all this." Robin talked to herself softy while sitting in her seat on the bus. "But back to business, I do hope that this information is correct. About a certain stone with a dead language written on it within a certain forest under the sea."

And yet elsewhere, in a clearing of a deep ocean forest, the Thousand Sunny rests. "I really do appreciate your work on my baby." Franky was there with his masterpiece and was talking to whoever was onboard, spreading a special coating on it; one that will allow the Thousand Sunny to survive the trip back to the surface, in the New World. And when the figure was down and jumped off of the Thousand Sunny, "By the way, what was your name again?"

"Den!" Den is a muscular merman with long, curly fair hair reaching down below his shoulders. His long and hooked nose points downward. He has a mustache and a dark, long, pointed goatee. Though a more common feature amongst fishmen, and very rare amongst merfolk, Den has webbed hands.

He has tattoos resembling four-leafed clovers on each of his arms; this symbol is also present on the dark, short-sleeved shirt he wears. He also wears a wide-brimmed hat on his head and what it appears to be glasses or safety goggles on his face. He has an earring on each of his ears and a beaded necklace around his neck. Den carries around a bag full of tools attached to a belt around his waist; just below it is tied a light cloth, somewhat similar to an apron.

"And I must say that I wasn't expecting like you to be one of the best students to my brother Tom." Den then said. Apparently his older brother was the very fishman that took in Franky and the man who would become the President of his own boat construction company and mayor of Water Seven, Iceberg, as his students in shipbuilding and to become professional shipwrights.

" _I_ wasn't expecting Tom to have a brother. He was a cowfish fishman and you, his 'brother', are a mermaid. How can that be?" Franky rebuked with his remark of confusion. Den just chuckled.

"It was because Tom received the genes from our mother and I got the ones from my father. We fishmen and mermaids are limited inclusively to each other in terms of breeding." Den then explained. "I just don't understand you humans and your need to look so different to tell each other apart."

"Well whatever, I am sure that Luffy will get here soon." Franky then said, turning to face a certain direction away from the Thousand Sunny. "He has been giving this headache of a reminder for that fact. I just wish he will cut me some slack, there were no blueprints on this **Haki** stuff." Den was left speechless and unable to process what Franky just said; still, the student of Tom should be trustworthy.

XXXXX

Back in the palace,

"Ja-ha-ha!" A large fishman laughed cruelly, at the Straw Hats and the already captured army. "I came here to take over the palace but a bunch of puny humans have beaten me to the punch! You are your pathetic army has turned soft and weak, now all we have to do is kill the puny humans!" He talked like a terrorist and one of the soldiers then shouted out the name 'Hody Jones'.

Hody is a grey-skinned great white shark fishman. He had a large belly, with a tattoo of a strange design on the right side as well as a long scar on the left, and muscular arms and legs. That tattoo had a sun outline and within it was a figure with its head off that was cut off with a slash bar. His facial features include glaring eyes, with long and distinctive eyelashes, a mouth full of sharp, triangular teeth, and a stub nose. He had long brown curly hair, with a long tuft hanging on the left part of his face. His left arm is intricately tattooed, with the Arlong Pirates' Jolly Roger (Like with Hammond) near the wrist and several circular designs above it ending with two skulls on the upper arm; he also has some spikes protruding from his bare wrist and circling it all, possibly decorative piercings.

He sported a pink newsboy cap, with a little trident represented on the left side and a massive scarf seemingly made from a dog-like animal around his neck, with the animal's head hanging on the left side of his chest. Hody was seen wearing a red open shirt with short sleeves, a wide collar and dark-red spots on the lower part, short blue trousers with a similar pattern but with light-blue spots, a pink sash tied around the waist, and sandals.

And beside him was the same four-legged fishman, Vander Decken. "Decken!" Neptune shouted in anger. "I should have known better! You ally yourself to Jones and then kidnap my daughter just so you can take over the palace!" Decken just laughed,

"Come on father-in-law, we haven't married yet and already you want me to leave the house the house with my wife!" Decken thought that Neptune was joking until he saw that everyone had a serious look on their face. "My future bride was kidnapped!? And it wasn't me!?"

"She had to be kidnapped, she will never leave the room all by herself. And she is as big as I am!" Neptune retorted, not noticing that Brook imagined Shirahoshi as a mermaid that was as bulky as she was large; the complete opposite to how she really looks. "Wait! Maybe someone stuffed her into Megalo's mouth and swam away with her that way!" Everyone just laughed at the idea (and for good reason this time :) )!

"Hody, I agreed to this little take-over so I can finally marry the princess! What's the meaning of this!?" Decken then turned to his 'partner' who just scoffed.

"Hell that I know and I damn don't care about the princess." Hody retorted. "And you said that your powers can always lead things to the princess. Why can't you just do that and stop whining?"

Decken then looked he had a sudden thought. "That's it! You are a genius Hody, I think." Hody didn't respond and Decken just showed his way out of the palace, forming some kind of bubble from a certain corral in his hand. Seeing a large coral reef nearby, he kicked hard enough to break the stem; the next thing he did was to use his right hand to pat it.

Then the coral move from drifting and then soared fast and true, away from the palace! "It is not flying to the Hard-Shell Tower!" Vander Decken pointed out. Then he jumped on the point of coral, riding it towards Shirahoshi. "The two of us are destined to be together! Now, not even the King himself can stop me from marrying the one I love more than anything in the world! And if she doesn't want me than nobody else will have her!" And he ranted all the way from the Ryugu Palace, not knowing what he will find when his journey ended.

XXXXX

Much later,

"There! That's the place!" Shirahoshi went off like a little kid who saw the amusement park in the horizon. That was a good way of describing her and the forest.

"That's a forest alright." Luffy commented as he was narrowing his eyes and, while unseen, he was doing the same with his **Haki**. Trying to narrow down Franky's location and from that small dot, he found where the Thousand Sunny ended up. "It is going to be a big reunion once we set foot there. Make sure that you don't freak out too much, Franky will just get the wrong idea once he sees you."

"Okay Luffy-sama." Shirahoshi still had no idea what Luffy was doing but her childish mindset told her to just go along with it. "That was still cool, what you did back in the town square." She said, then wondered why Luffy looked a mild boggled.

"I figured that you will be more scared and angry instead of this Shirahoshi, I did rough handled your people and even that jerk Decken." Luffy clinched his fist with almost enough strength to draw blood. That fishman pirate was just the one of those characters Luffy couldn't stand the most. "Not to mention that giant who tried to…" Luffy sounded like he was going to explode when he felt someone holding his hand; the complexation and size could only be one person, Nami.

"It's okay Luffy. That is long over, right?" Nami was still nervous but still wanted to comfort her captain all the same. When Luffy turned his focus to Nami, she flinched and braced for him to redirect his anger towards her; at least that was what her instincts were either commanding or protesting. Her mind has been nothing but chaos, a maelstrom since Luffy revealed his new look and his new character.

"You're right Nami." Luffy instead smiled and loosen his fist, turning it to take Nami's. She almost blushed to feel the roughness and stiffness that was the surface of Luffy's palm; it made her feel like a man was touching her with passion. "Thanks, I needed this." Luffy then snaked his arm around Nami and pulled her in; she didn't feel like protesting and snuggled in again.

'Why am I so weak when I am this close to him?' Nami thought to herself, not really expecting an answer. But she had gotten one anyways.

'I think it's cute.' Nami was slightly surprised to hear Luffy's voice inside her head. 'This is not a weakness, but a new side to you Nami. One that we tend to show when we are around those we want to be with forever.' Nami said nothing, and tried to ponder about this even with her captain linking their minds together. 'I used to believe that I felt this way with all you guys. But recently, I felt a warmer and fuzzier feeling when I am around **you**. Like I am losing my strength, that I want to just melt, I just don't want to leave your presence.'

Nami was trying to lose her blush especially after hearing from Luffy on how she was feeling around him to the exact word. 'Are you reading my…?' Nami tried to argue with one of her thoughts when Luffy's hand brushed against her cheek.

'I can read each other's thoughts but not your memories, your emotions either Nami.' Luffy answered her incomplete question. 'Maybe whoever created **Kenbunshoku Haki (Observant Haki)** had the privacy of people's brains in mind.' Somehow, Nami found the strength to giggle at that joke and she was internally relieved; there were a lot of secrets buried and skeletons in her closet that she didn't want anyone to find out so soon.

"But Luffy, just how did you get the giant princess out of the palace? We didn't see her until you were attacked by that crazy guy on the coral reef!" Chopper brought up and that got everyone else wondering the same thing (Sanji was still tied up and unconscious).

"It was another skill I developed with my **Kenbunshoku Haki** that I developed back on Rusukaina Island. I found out that I can fool the large animals into not seeing me or even smelling me." Luffy replied. "I found out from Rayleigh that the three forms of Haki are each a reference to what a makes a human being or any other living creature; Body, Soul and Spirit." Everyone were still silent to take in this info. " **Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki** symbolizes the Body being protected by an invisible barrier or a suit of armor as well as being enhanced in terms of durability and power. **Kenbunshoku Haki** is the Soul as in the senses that help with survival and response to danger of any form. And **Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki)** refers to one's own soul used to dominate or command those of others."

"So…the senses are affected by **Kenbunshoku Haki**?" Nami asked and Luffy nodded.

"Everyone relies on their senses, mostly the sense of sight but the senses can be fooled." Luffy said. "I merely forced Brook, that tied Minister on the Right and all those battered pirates into not seeing Shirahoshi or even hearing her. It was simply an alternative to being invisible, as long as I keep my focus."

"And when Vander Decken came, trusting his devil fruit power to where the princess is…" Chopper then stated and Luffy nodded at that too.

"It was either that I was too distracted to keep up the technique or Shirahoshi was found out anyways. I simply saw no need to try and fool everyone further when Decken had to come with intent to kill her." Luffy said and almost showed off his rage-containing state, worrying his crew again. "But I shouldn't worry about him just yet, it did feel good to crack the tooth of that mountain monk."

"Uh…sure." Everyone said when they saw Luffy's tugging of his lips that he calls a smile. That was when they noticed that they could even see Franky by the Thousand Sunny, so they cried out for him.

"Ow!" Franky cried out in surprise and called out to his crew and captain. Until of course he removed his sunglasses to get a better look at what was riding the giant shark from before. "Wow! And who is that big babe you snagged up!?" Luffy just laughed, happy to get with another one of his crew.

And once they settled in the clearing,

"Her is Shirahoshi, but you can call her Wimpy." Luffy joked and Franky just chuckled.

"You are Wimpy huh? Honey, you need to learn to pull yourself together." Franky replied and Shirahoshi just nervously laughed it off. She had heard about Luffy's shipwright on the trip to the forest but then again, imagination had gotten nothing on this guy.

"Please Franky-sama, just call me Shirahoshi." The princess tried to say politely, she was still shaking inside to see just a creature that was Franky. Not even the creatures that dwell within the caverns, ditches and trenches at the bottom of the ocean look that strange.

"Hey Franky, who is that on the ship gawking at Shirahoshi?" Luffy pointed out and Franky did a very long introduction of Den. "So he is the guy whose teacher is going to fix up your brother?" Luffy then said, getting curious looks until he laughed. "Just kidding, I've got the picture." Franky just nervous smiled and gave a large thumbs-up. Thankfully, that straining atmosphere was soon broken,

"Luffy-kun!" Everyone turned to another familiar sight, a large blue fishman that Luffy knew every well indeed. They both own each other their lives during the great war two years ago.

"Jinbe!" Luffy cried out and then promptly hugged the large fishman like a distanced close friend. The former warlord was a little startled by the affection but smiled and returned it anyways. "I missed you Jinbe!"

"I did too myself. And I did hear about how you were able to make a lasting impression on the marines stationed there." Jinbe responded with a chuckle, "Now rumors are that you have become nigh invincible in standards of Paradise." Luffy just laughed,

"People can say all they want about me, but I don't regret what I did. After all, I wasted only a second or a half when they tried to arrest me for being a pirate." Luffy remarked and his crowd all shook their heads in amusement in prefect unison. They even ignored Jinbe with his expression of shock to see the presence of the princess outside of her room in the tower at the Ryugu Palace. But that steady and easy-going atmosphere was shattered once another arrival came; in the form of a desperate and scared Kiemi.

"Luffy-kun! Luffy-kun!" The mermaid looked like there was a murder, that happened right in front of her eyes. "The Palace! The…palace…!" Kiemi tried to utter what was on her mind but her voice was as unstable and broken like her thoughts were. That is until Luffy firmly grasped Kiemi by the arms, making her gasp.

"Take in a deep breath and tell me everything you know. Has anyone been killed or captured?" Luffy asked and Kiemi nodded at option number two. "Then what about the King or my crew?" That that question Kiemi looked down with sorrow and regret.

End of Chapter 9.

 ***I hope you like it! ***


	10. Begin the Battle!

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

"One Piece" – Speaking

'One Piece' – Thoughts

 _One Piece_ – Flashbacks

 **One Piece** – Techniques

A Large Leap

Ten Vs Ten Thousand

 _Previously on A Large Leap,_

" _Luffy-kun!" Everyone turned to another familiar sight, a large blue fishman that Luffy knew every well indeed. They both own each other their lives during the great war two years ago._

 _"Jinbe!" Luffy cried out and then promptly hugged the large fishman like a distanced close friend. The former warlord was a little startled by the affection but smiled and returned it anyways. "I missed you Jinbe!"_

 _"I did too myself. And I did hear about how you were able to make a lasting impression on the marines stationed there." Jinbe responded with a chuckle, "Now rumors are that you have become nigh invincible in standards of Paradise." Luffy just laughed,_

 _"People can say all they want about me, but I don't regret what I did. After all, I wasted only a second or a half when they tried to arrest me for being a pirate." Luffy remarked and his crowd all shook their heads in amusement in prefect unison. They even ignored Jinbe with his expression of shock to see the presence of the princess outside of her room in the tower at the Ryugu Palace. But that steady and easy-going atmosphere was shattered once another arrival came; in the form of a desperate and scared Kiemi._

 _"Luffy-kun! Luffy-kun!" The mermaid looked like there was a murder, that happened right in front of her eyes. "The Palace! The…palace…!" Kiemi tried to utter what was on her mind but her voice was as unstable and broken like her thoughts were. That is until Luffy firmly grasped Kiemi by the arms, making her gasp._

 _"Take in a deep breath and tell me everything you know. Has anyone been killed or captured?" Luffy asked and Kiemi nodded at option number two. "Then what about the King or my crew?" That that question Kiemi looked down with sorrow and regret._

"Hody Jones?" Kiemi was twitching the name but nodded. "Someone I should know, since he threatened my crew?" Luffy asked and was answered with even more silence. Zoro, Brook and Usopp were also there as they were able to escape the chaos at Neptune's palace. Robin had finished her exploring of the forest and was enjoying yet another novel. Then Jinbe spoke up,

"Jones is the captain of Fishman pirates that originated from the Fishman District, the underpit of Fishman Island." Luffy nodded, urging Jinbe to tell more. "I knew him when I was part of a pirate crew too. Jones was an orphan that grew up, nurtured by the darkness that grew in Fishman District. And now he has amassed his own crew to try and take Ryugu Palace. His plan is to supposedly show the entire world that Fishman are the 'superior race'."

"Sounds a lot like Arlong." Luffy muttered and then his eyes widen. "Jinbe, your captain won't happen to be Fisher Tiger? And Arlong to be a crewmate of yours, under the same flag?" This caused a lot of gasps to be heard while Jinbe and Luffy were the only ones silent.

"I didn't think that Arlong still talked about our old captain. He hated and blamed humans so much that he did an assault on the nearest base, where he was captured." Jinbe responded. "I won't be surprised that he will kill one of his own for just saying the name for a human to hear."

"Thankfully, it wasn't from Arlong or his 'brothers' that I heard the name of Fisher Tiger." Luffy spoke which made Jinbe give out a silent sigh of relief. "I learned his name from the many souls he saved for slavery, Boa Hancock."

"ARRGH!" This sound spooked everyone and yet nobody even bothered when Sanji awoke worse than a bear, disturbed from hibernation. "Why!? Why the hell are you damn lucky, Luffy!? It's bad enough that you were sent to man's paradise, having the most beautiful pirate want you alive and now you even talked with her!?"

Luffy's forehead twitched worse which every word until tick marks were clearly heard, even several feet away. "Sanji…" The raven-haired captain muttered until he painfully grasped Sanji with a face grab. "I was almost glad that you are awake. Jinbe and I are talking about serious matters here!" Luffy started to scold at his cook, which was somehow amusing.

"…So, if you are awake and kicking, then get cooking!" Luffy finished it off by slinging Sanji over his shoulder, with the blonde chef landing on the Thousand Sunny with a bullseye. "As we were saying…" Luffy turned his attention back to Jinbe who was little irritated still himself.

"We were discussing how you heard of Fisher Tiger. So, Boa Hancock was one of the slaves that Captain Tiger saved, eh? I was never told of this." Luffy nodded,

"Fisher Tiger couldn't care about anything other than slaves getting free when he attacked Mariejois, the Holy Land." The crew grasped again. They heard about that place before. It was the city that was supposed to be located on top the indestructible Red Line, which is also five thousand meters from the ocean surface which is five thousand meters from Fishman Island.

Luffy continued, "Hancock knew about him from the newspapers, all the way to when he was surrounded by marines hired by a little girl's mother to turn him in. Even though he was rescued, he died of blood loss after refusing the only blood packs available to him that could have saved his life. All because he was a slave like the ones he rescued."

This left everyone with heavy hearts to hear such a tragedy. And while Jinbe was also heart-stricken, he wanted to know where Luffy got the details. "If you want to know, Jinbei." Luffy spoke up, "Always remember that the heart always speaks the loudest, even if you don't hear it talk. And I have learned how to listen during my training."

Silence spread, Jinbe had nothing to say to that. Instead he turned to Nami with a face of sadness and regret. "Nami-san, in my anger at Arlong I cast him out of the Sun Pirates. Ultimately that convinced him to give up on peace with humility and I understand that he and his own gang targeted your home island in the East Blue." Nami started to shiver as memories upon nightmares were leaking into his mind. "I want to apologize for being so rash with Arlong, my actions were the leading cause for his rampage on your home."

"I have gotten over it." Nami was silent and yet everyone heard a crack in her voice. "I am no longer associated with that beast of his kind. I am nobody's slave, not now and not ever." Nami then felt someone's hand grasp her with a comfortable and comforting way. Her heart soared when saw who it was, "And I am stuck with this _hunk_ forever." While Sanji acted out his heart erupting, like the drama queen he was, everyone else had the look of curiosity; as if they were asking, what are you not telling us?

Luffy laughed sheepishly, "In his prime, Master Rayleigh used to be quite the player and every time I didn't get his lesson, he throw me into the den. And he did, twenty times, on the same day." Luffy let out a shiver and those who caught it also saw sliver of fear in his eyes before it died. "Besides, I needed to make up over two years of letting out in the wind. That is now how you treat a lady that has her heart soaring." All the while, Luffy rubbed Nami's hair almost like she was a human-sized house cat, not that she seemed to mind.

But that atmosphere was interrupted, rather slowly when a large snail moved into the middle of the group. This was a **Den-Den Mushi (Transponder Snail)** , a type of animal-machine hybrid that has been in use for as long as anyone could remember. They are most commonly used as telephone and even sending faxes. Right now, this one was the model for projecting a motion picture and hardly some kind of movie to watch.

The Straw Hats knew that when the Den-Den Mushi activated and shown a projected image of a White Shark Fishman. "Hody Jones!" Jinbe shouted off and Luffy finally saw the face of this terrorist that he has been hearing about. After some monotone, the image shifted into something that truly was outrageous. It was King Neptune with the three princes all chained up in a fashion ready for execution!

Luffy knew what this was, a boast of their strength and a taunt to anyone who will dare try to defy them. Too bad for them, this is the Strawhats. As pirates, they naturally defy authority and they follow their own rules. "F-father…? Brothers…?" Shirahoshi was about to tear again when she felt something coil around her massive hand. It was Luffy's way of comforting a person of her size.

"Its going to be okay. You are not losing your family today." The giant princess wiped away her tears and clutched the rubber grip, not that it hurt Luffy one bit. Then he faced the crew and company. "Guys, I have a plan and it could only be done with your help." Luffy said, turning to his entire crew. "You spent two years learning in the surface world of Paradise, I have seen only the tip of the iceberg. Let's save the day. And show me more, captain's orders." This time, everyone smile with eagerness and excitement.

XXXXX

Later, in Fishman Island Plaza,

"What are they waiting for?" One of the inhabitants asked out loud to the crowd that surrounded the plaza from a higher, safer attitude. "Our king and princes have been beaten and they are the best warriors in Fishman Island."

"Yeah, the royal army didn't stand a chance. I mean look at all of them!" Another resident quietly shouted and pointed to the masses of fishman standing at the same level ground as the execution posts. "Just what can these Strawhats do? I heard that they were nine at best."

"I heard that Big Boss Jinbe helped their captain two years ago during the Whitebeard War." Yet another resident said. "Perhaps with Big Boss Jinbe's strength, the Strawhats can free our rulers?"

"Keep that down, or they will start shooting at us!" The first two residents faced the third and hushed him as if a crying baby. Then the ice was broken,

"Look up there!" Everyone turned to look, both the spectators and the pirates down below, and saw a large shark with a slightly larger figure riding it. Once it got closer, it was Shirahoshi and Megalo! And they were moving right where the pirates awaiting her! "There! On the shark too!" That same voice spoke up and Jinbe was sighted, riding Megalo!

Once Megalo landed, the masses of pirates immediately hurried to tie them up, without much resistance. "I see. You were always the peace-lover when you served this pathetic kingdom." Jinbe recognized that voice and when he turned, shock appeared in his eyes and Shirahoshi was also frightened.

It was Hody Jones but with a new look, he no longer had a large belly, being far more muscular than before, with his muscles bulging in size with thick veins appearing, particularly on his arms, and his size greatly increased, being in equal in size to Ikaros Much, the largest of the New Fishman Pirates, while sitting down. His dark hair had lightened exponentially. He no longer wore any headgear, and donned a shirt with the colors reversed from the one he originally wore, with the dark background having turned light and the light spots along the bottom having turned dark. He also carried his trident on his back.

"Jones, what did the hell did you do to yourself?" Jinbe talked as if a close friend of his had turned into a monster. "Was it the Energy Steroids that you stole from the Palace!? Do you know what they will do to you if you keep eating them so recklessly!?"

"A peace-loving wrench will never understand what must be done to place Fishman where they always belonged." Hody waved away at Jinbe, clearly showing indifference to the former Warlord. "But never in my life did I think that the pride of the army will become a dog to a government run by the same greedy men that enslaved and abused our brothers and sisters up above. Peace truly is an era for weaklings to get power they don't deserve."

"You are forgetting that a 'human' had once saved out island from slavers for simply saying that we are part of his territory." Jinbe retorted and Hody looked even more smug than before.

"That man is dead. Killed by his own men two years ago because he was still too weak-hearted to rule the oceans." Hody mocked and his crew mates laughed as a result. This rubbed Jinbe the wrong way, he really admired the late Whitebeard for providing absolute protection for Fishman Island in one day compared to the efforts of the World Government that lasted two centuries. "But enough of this useless dabble, it is time for the greater good of our kind. Starting with our weak ruler!"

Hody pointed his finger towards King Neptune as the massive ruler was brought down from the gallows, only to be placed right in front of Hody, still bound in chains. The terrorist Fishman just gleefully waited for the weapon of execution from another fishman, who delivered it promptly.

The crowds were in shock and were still in fear for their lives to cry out in protest. All they could do was watch Hody Jones raise that executioner's blade up high, the blade aimed for Neptune's neck. Time slowed to a crawl when Hody Jones brought down the weapon down for the kill

The princess looked like she was boiling over with tears before, "LUFFY-SAMA!" Shirahoshi shouted to the heavens and something epic happened. Megalo suddenly started to bloat and coughed up something that sped towards Hody Jones, delivering a devasting kick to the terrorist's stomach. Hody was sent right into the cliff walls, failing to behead King Neptune.

"Its Straw Hat Luffy!" One of the residents pointed out, "He was there all this time!?" The young man with a straw hat ignored the mumbling among the crowds, still staring where he still Hody Jones flying, with his entire body steaming red. "Hey, is that his ship!?"

The Thousand Sunny had appeared out of nowhere, flying with the aid of a large bubble attached by ropes, and the figurehead looked like it was charging for an attack. Franky was at the helm and took aim, **"** **Gaon Hō (Gaon Cannon)!"** That scattered a small portion of the pirates down below, granting enough spare room for the large ship to settle on the ground. Hopefully, Franky has a back-up plan to get his masterpiece off the dry ground to sail again.

Once the Thousand Sunny had landed, the Straw Hats jumped off and down on the ground with ice-cold stares at the Fishman surrounding them. Then the ice was broken yet again when, "Hey! The keys are gone!" One of the fishman down below suddenly searched his pockets and coming up dry. This confused his associates until,

 **"** **Mirāju Tenpo (Mirage Tempo)!"** A woman's voice emerged and so did a certain orange-haired navigator, appearing near the prisoners. She had in her hand a metal ring with various keys attached, which she first used on Jinbe and then the princess and her pet shark. King Neptune and the princes were silently retrieved by what is left of the royal army so they can treat them. All of them then joined the rest of the Strawhats who assembled in front of the Thousand Sunny.

By this time, Hody Jones dug his way out of the cliff side with only pebbles to brush off his shark-like skin. "I am impressed, only a little. You puny humans must be so weak that you resort to stomp so low. You all used to head over to your doom, so why show off when you are going to die?"

"Because we are not." Luffy actually responded. "Nobody is going to die today. Not even you." Hody Jones laughed even louder,

"You certainly are an amusing human, talking about such garbage like our weakling of a king!" The terrorist mocked Luffy who said nothing. "But while I am on the something, not only will I become this island's king, but I will also be the next King of Pirates!" This caused something to snap in Luffy's mind and the young captain started to walk over in the direction of Hody Jones with a moderate pace. The crew called out as to what he was doing but they figured that Luffy had this under control. "Good puny human, kill him men!"

The fishman pirates armed themselves and charged in for the kill, thinking they got a clear shot. Then Luffy's gaze met the light of dawn and a ripple surged throughout the plaza. It didn't affect the populous that were watching above but Hody felt the chill, with his arm suddenly shivering. And right when the watching residents took in a breath of anticipation, the pirates started to fall.

One-by-one, dozens-upon-dozens, they all fell to the ground. Piles of bodies surrounded Luffy's feet. Half the entire army had lost to the captain already, leaving the other half to feel like they started the Devil in the face. They couldn't even stop themselves from shivering like newborn deer; their posture was swaying and out of focus, and their weapons were just about to fall out of their grasp.

"Your crew mean nothing to me, Hody Jones. This is between me and you, so keep them out of our way." Luffy spoke calmly. He truly looked like a king, displaying the power he had in his glare to his enemy. "You are free to become king of any country or island if you please…" Hody was still speechless, "But there is only room in this world for one King of the Pirates!"

End of Chapter 10.

 ***I never thought that I will get this chapter done, it has been over a year! My mind keeps shutting down every time I try at it. It doesn't mean that I am quitting the story, I am far too persistent and stubborn. Tell me what you think!***


End file.
